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MARKET WRAP REGULATION WILL SHAPE 2016
FINANCIAL SERVICES
ASIC BANS ADVISER, INSURANCE BROKER The regulator has taken action against a pair of finance professionals ASIC has issued bans to an adviser and an insurance broker in separate incidents. The regulator said it had banned Mark Lionel Tidbury, a financial adviser and former authorised representative of Meritum Financial Group, for six years. ASIC said Tidbury had contravened financial services laws, and claimed that he was “likely to contravene a financial services law in the future”. ASIC said it had conducted a review that found, in a number of instances, that Tidbury had recommended clients switch to a different superannuation product in circumstances where there was little benefit but significant additional cost involved in switching. However, ASIC said the switching advice benefited Tidbury through increased adviser fees. “Financial advisers must put their clients’ interests ahead of their own. Super switching that provides little benefit to the client but is very profitable to advisers is clearly unacceptable,” ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said. Meanwhile, the watchdog said it had
permanently banned an insurance broker from providing financial services following his conviction for fraud. Mark Chapple, formerly of Agri Risk Services, pleaded guilty to four counts of obtaining money by deception and four counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception at the NSW Magistrates Court in Tamworth in May. Chapple was sentenced in September 2015 following an appeal, and ASIC has now taken action to ban the broker from providing financial services. Chapple had invoiced a number of Agri Risk clients directly for his services despite having already been paid by his employer, and Kell said the ban should act as a warning to others. “Clients should be able to trust that their insurance broker is providing a valuable service,” he said. “This behaviour will not be tolerated.” Agri Risk “fully assisted” ASIC with its enquiries, and Chapple has the right to appeal the decision of the regulator.
The financial services industry will continue to feel the impact of regulation in the year ahead, a new report has claimed. Deloitte Asia Pacific’s Centre for Regulatory Strategy has predicted that financial institutions across the Asia-Pacific region will continue to face regulatory policy development and implementation strategies in 2016. “APAC financial institutions will continue to face elevated implementation challenges within an ongoing policy environment that has significant strategic implications,” Deloitte Asia Pacific Centre for Regulatory Strategy lead partner Kevin Nixon said. Nixon identified the “moving pieces” that will pose a challenge for financial institutions in 2016, including changing capital requirements and the “ever-constant pressure” for companies to demonstrate good conduct and culture. Locally, Nixon said companies would continue to face challenges in the wake of the FSI. “In Australia, financial institutions have a comprehensive local agenda to manage following the Government’s recent adoption of nearly all recommendations of the Financial System Inquiry. While some of these are aligned with, and dependent on, global policy outcomes (such as mortgage risk weights), there is a significant local body of work through 2016 and beyond.”
BY THE NUMBERS
$25bn Australia has been the target of a record $25bn in acquisitions this year by Canadian investors Source: Bloomberg
SUCCESSION PLANNING OFTEN OVERLOOKED The new COO and director of a financial firm’s newly launched business advisory service says planners often overlook succession planning. Omniwealth has announced the appointment of Atle Crowe-Maxwell as its new COO and head of its business advisory service. Crowe-Maxwell previously worked as a corporate recovery partner at BDO. In his new role, he will be responsible for building a business advisory and succession planning service across the group. “The synergies between an accounting practice and a financial planning practice all working together offer the right mix to assist businesses as they grow and mature. Owners need advice around the best strategy and
structure for the business to weather the current business climate and succeed,” he said. Crowe-Maxwell said succession planning had been “overlooked or misunderstood” by many advisers working with SME clients. With more Australians moving towards retirement, he said the area was “centre stage” for many companies. “Omniwealth now has a deeper expertise in-house to assist with planning succession strategies. We believe the first need in succession thinking is to assist clients develop the right strategy and the best structure before considering tax or funding matters,” he said.