ASIC, pursuant to Section 920A of the Corporations Act, banned the Responsible Managers of a Brisbane based company. The company was a registered training organisation that also held an AFS licence. The company was found to have made misleading and deceptive representations about the performance of a real investment portfolio. It was falsely claimed that[…]

There is no definition of a responsible manager in the Corporations Act. It is a term developed by ASIC. In ASIC Regulatory Guide 105 the term responsible manager is used to label the person nominated by a licence applicant for the purposes of meeting ASIC’s competencies for licensing. As noted in the Regulatory Guide the[…]

ASIC has issued a list of conduct and disclosure practices that it would like to see be adopted by participants within the sectors it regulates. For the financial services sector this list includes:  acting professionally at all times  avoiding or properly managing conflicts of interest  treating investors fairly  ensuring that disclosure[…]

In 2015, the amendments to the Corporations Act brought in the concept of a Financial Adviser. This means having to make additional notifications to ASIC in relation to the new Financial Adviser Register. Licensees have been required to notify ASIC and its predecessors of the appointment of their Authorised Representatives for over 20 years but[…]

Since the implementation of the Future of Financial Advice (“FOFA”) reforms in July 2013, many practices continue to grapple with the associated implications on their business. The first part in this blog series addresses one of the early stages of the client / adviser relationship: the fact finding process. Part 1: The Critical Importance of[…]

Recent Court decisions have confirmed that pursuant to Section 79 of the Corporations Act, ANY employee of a corporation (not just directors), can be liable for contraventions of the Act, if they have KNOWLEDGE of a contravention. Section 79 provides: CORPORATIONS ACT 2001 – SECT 79 Involvement in contraventions A person is involved in a[…]

The accountants’ licensing exemption (Regulation 7.1.29A) previously permitted a recognised accountant to recommend the establishment or winding-up of an interest in a SMSF without holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence. This exemption was removed on 1 July 2016. ASIC has advised that as at 2 July it had issued 317 Limited AFS licenses to[…]

There are just 4 months of the licensing period remaining where recognised accountants can streamline to a limited AFS licence. The transition period of three years ends on 30 June 2016. Be warned that, as with previous transitional licensing processes, ASIC may publicly state that they will not be able to guarantee that applications will[…]