CPA Australia only has itself to blame. Only a miracle on par with Moses parting the Red Sea will not prevent CPA public practice members losing additional protection from malpractice lawsuits from 8 October 2017.
The Professional Standards Council has confirmed that its professional standards scheme, which limits the liability of participants who are members of an appropriate industry organisation, will not be renewed before it expires on 7 October 2017. The consequences of this are that many public practice members will see an increase in their Professional Indemnity insurance premiums and be exposed to unlimited liability for negligence.
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ASIC has announced that it is seeking feedback on the proposed rules which are documented in Consultation Paper 293 - Revising the market licence regime for domestic and overseas operators (“CP 293”).
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Following the cessation of the accountants’ exemption, self-managed superannuation funds (“SMSFs”) became a financial product under the licensing provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“the Act”). From 30 June 2016, those accountants wishing to provide advisory and dealing services in regard to SMSFs needed to either obtain an Australian Financial Services (“AFS”) Licence, or be appointed as an Authorised Representative of another licensee.
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ASIC has made two important announcements over the past couple of days.
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Here is a roundup of recent news from AUSTRAC.
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ASIC has published the results of its review of 2016 financial reports of 90 entities. The report makes interesting reading especially in preparation for the 30 June 2017 financial reports.
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Section 127(2D) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), permits ASIC to disclose details of specific financial reporting and audit quality findings to directors, audit committees, senior management, responsible entities or disclosing entities.
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ASIC has released the findings of a report following a review of compliance procedures by those licensees with asset holding obligations imposed by ASIC Regulatory Guide (“RG”) 133 Managed Investments and Custodial or Depository Services: Holding Assets.
The safekeeping of clients’ funds and property (assets) is a critical functionality in the financial services sector. The conduct of such participants has a direct correlation on the level of investor trust and confidence in the financial system as a whole.
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For some time now, ASIC has floated the idea of having a user pay system in regard to financial service licensees. This has been in response to the never ending chorus of insufficient resources due to a lack of funding.
The Australian Government conceived the idea of such a model in April 2016 (following a recommendation from the Murray Financial System Inquiry) whereby those entities who created the need for and benefited from financial services regulation would fund ASIC.
ASIC heralded the passage of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2017 (Cth) and its related bills through the Australian Senate on 15 June 2017 with ASIC Chairman, Mr Greg Medcraft noting that the bill enjoyed support across the political spectrum.
From 1 July 2017, ASIC’s regulatory costs will be funded by industry participants through the imposition of annual levies.
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ASIC has today released the findings of a surveillance review into the registered managed investment schemes sector. In all, ASIC’s review included 28 Responsible Entities across 336 schemes - which represented about 9% of all current schemes.
A Responsible Entity is the body corporate responsible for the management and operation of a registered managed investment scheme - that is a scheme which maintains retail clients. On top of its general obligations as a licensee, a Responsible Manager is also subject to:
Acting in the best interest of the scheme’s members.
Ensuring compliance with the scheme’s compliance plan.
Ensuring the scheme property is clearly identified and held separately from property from other schemes or from the Responsible Entity itself.
Holding the scheme property on trust.
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It has been almost 12 months since the requirement that all accountants who provide services covering Self-Managed Superannuation Funds be appropriately licensed. Accountants could either obtain their own Australian Financial Services (“AFS”) Licence, or be appointed as an Authorised Representative of a licensee with the appropriate authorisations.
Ariel & Associates Pty Ltd invites you to a free briefing to assist you with your obligations as financial services provider, especially as we approach financial year end.
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In March 2015, ASIC established an Innovation Hub which was designed to assist financial technology (“fintech”) businesses navigate the financial services system. Similarly, ASIC has taken proactive steps to ensure it engages with industry in regard to developments in regulatory technology (“regtech”).
ASIC has defined regtech as “the use of new technologies to solve regulatory and compliance requirements more effectively and efficiently. These technologies could include use of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, data reporting, regulatory codification and big data analysis technologies.”
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ASIC has recently released a report covering enforcement results for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016. The report highlights investigations undertaken during this period as well as a high level analysis of the results.
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ASIC has issued Regulatory Guide (“RG”) 257 which seeks to assist fintech businesses test products and services before they obtain an Australian Financial Services (“AFS”) Licence or an Australian Credit Licence (“ACL”).
RG 257 is designed to permit fintechs to test their new products and services before they obtain an AFS Licence or ACL
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As a result of the growing number of market operators in the Australian financial sector, market market supervision and real-time surveillance was transferred from the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) to ASIC in August 2010. As a result, ASIC drafted specific rules for each Market Operator, which became known as the Market Integrity Rules.
There are Market Integrity Rules for all current Market Operators - including the ASX, ASX24, Chi-X, National Stock Exchange of Australia (“NSXA”), Sydney Stock Exchange and Financial and Energy Exchange. Additional Rules have been drafted to cover competition in market rules and capital requirements.
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