Hayne Royal Commission

The four majors along with AMP and Macquarie have paid or offered to pay a total of $4.7 million for charging fees for advice services they did not provide and for noncompliant advice, bringing to a close an eight-year review by ASIC and a key chapter of the advice industry shakeup led by the Hayne commission.

The corporate regulator has delivered a stern warning to licensees with the release of its guide on consumer remediation. After overseeing billions in repayments to Australians, ASIC deputy chair Karen Chester says the industry “must do better”.

How do you know you need advice? Seeking advice can be a challenging endeavour for most people. It is not so much that advice is hard to find, but more so that the abundance of information out there offers so much, but under it may lie hidden intentions – but more on this later. Here…

Following forceful questioning by shareholders at its annual meeting last month, comes news that a class action against IOOF, undertaken by Shine Lawyers, has progressed through the funding stage. A previous proposed action, through lawyers Quinn Emanual, was dropped early this year. Patrick Liddy, the principal of MSI Group consultants, and Shine Lawyers have been…

Delivering value in spades It has been a difficult few years for financial advisers following the Royal Commission. The Commission uncovered some long-standing issues that were predominantly associated with the vertical integration of advice and investment management, resulting in a much needed professionalisation and cleanout of the industry. This has continued into 2020 with thousands…

Fewer people in Australia are likely to get financial advice in the wake of the Hayne Royal Commission – the inevitable consequence of implementing the final report’s wide-ranging recommendations.