At first glance the recent Productivity Commission Draft Report on How to Assess the Competitiveness and Efficiency of the Superannuation System August 2016 could be dismissed as nothing more than a procedural step along the road to the ultimate goal as recommended by the FSI of developing an ...

The Corporations Act 2001 Cth was amended in 2004 to include an additional obligation for Australian financial services licensees to have in place adequate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest that may arise in relation to the activities undertaken by the licensees in the ...

There has been so much talk about blockchain and distributed ledger technology recently especially in financial services that you might be forgiven for thinking it might be more hype than substance But we think it could be very important technology ...

The Government has recently made changes to superannuation law that helps clear the way for trustees of regulated superannuation funds to charge fund assets in order to enter into a broad range of exchange-traded and Over-The-Counter derivative transactions The changes are intended to make it easier ...

The idea that the UK could on leaving the EU simply walk away from a significant amount of EU financial services regulation seems fantastical It is likely that the UK will instead have to adopt on exit vast amounts of EU financial services regulation However the UK will have no say on the future ...

ASIC has released a consultation paper on proposals to facilitate innovation in the financial services sector The proposals include details of the long-awaited regulatory sandbox It will be of interest to both emerging companies who may rely on the relief as well as investors in this space Senior ...

The Reserve Bank has now released a Standard which sets out what payment surcharges will be permitted for the purposes of the new Part IVC of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 Cth The aim of the Standard is to improve competition and efficiency by providing to consumers price signals associated ...

ASIC and APRA often cop flak from various quarters including from us and so today for something different we train our sights on the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK What the FCA has said about providing personal advice to retail clients is interesting debatable and likely to induce a strong ...

The Queensland Parliament has passed amendments to the states security of payment legislation that aim to address concerns raised by the construction industry about unfairness in the payment claim and adjudication process ...

A recent High Court decision highlights the substantial scope of s541 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 Cth to prevent an insurer from denying cover following an insureds non-compliance with certain terms of an insurance policy. ...