The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has announced a number of actions against IOOF entities, directors and executives for failing to act in the best interests of superannuation members and breaching section 52 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act), Prudential Standard SPS 520: Fit and Proper and Prudential Standard SPS 521: Conflicts of Interest. APRA’s concerns relate to IOOF’s organisational structure, governance framework, conflicts management framework and delays in the implementation of…

The public hearings of the Financial Services Royal Commission have concluded. Commissioner Hayne will deliver his Final Report by 1 February 2019. The hearings and case studies have shone a spotlight on our largest financial institutions, insurers, and superannuation funds and those who regulate them. It has given new meaning to reputation risk and customer-centred strategy: the test is no longer what if this appeared on the front page of the daily paper but how…

I recently spoke at a credit law conference about digital mortgage lending. Your customers expect you to engage with them in ways that are convenient to them, including online and by mobile apps. Using technology can improve the speed of transactions and lead to better customer experiences. As long as automation focuses on customer benefits and addresses risks such as privacy and fraud, automated systems can improve the lending process. Lending is supposed to be…

One of the lessons learned from the Financial Services Royal Commission is the importance of record retention and the ability to find information. In his Interim Report in respect of the responses to his requests for information the Commissioner observed: “CBA and NAB found it difficult to comply with the requests that I made. Each explained the difficulty by pointing to the need to assemble information from many separate sources. NAB said that… it had…

The Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee has released its Annual Compliance Report 2017-18. The Chair observed that “the central purpose of a code of practice is to support a culture of trust in accordance with community expectations and to ensure fair and enforceable self-regulation. It should impose accountability and responsibility on the boards and executives who determine the culture and operations of a business. It should streamline regulations and bring transparency and accountability…

ASIC has released its first review of the buy now pay later industry. Buy now pay later arrangements allow consumers to defer payment for purchases from participating merchants by paying the buy now pay later provider for that purchase over time but obtaining the goods and services from the merchant immediately. A buy now pay later arrangement usually involves a contract between the consumer and the buy now pay later provider, a contract between…

The Prime Minister has announced that the next Budget will be delivered on 2 April 2019. The significance of this date is that it is expected that a Commonwealth Government election will be called shortly after. If this is correct then there are only 6 sitting days left for Parliament this year (28-29 November and 3-6 December 2018) and 2-3 weeks in February and March 2019 before the election. This leaves the following unfinished business…