BFCSA Blog

Financial Advice laws reversal to go ahead Business Banking and Finance Date September 27, 2014   Gareth Hutchens and James Massola http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/financial-advice-laws-reversal-to-go-ahead-20140926-10monm.html#ixzz3Eb1nDszu The federal government looks set to secure its plans to wind back Labor's changes to the rules governing financial advice, despite a senate committee filing a disallowance motion on the bill this week.  Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says he hopes to introduce the bill to the senate next week, while Clive Palmer says his Palmer United Senators will vote for the bill, to honour an agreement struck with the government. Confusion arose on Thursday about the future of the government's controversial financial advice laws after the senate standing committee on regulations and ordinances committee, chaired by Nationals senator John ­Williams, moved a disallowance motion on the bill.  The committee said the FoFA regulations were not the appropriate way to introduce the financial advice regime and it gave notice it...

http://www.smh.com.au/business/nationals-john-williams-calls-for-a-royal-commission-into-white-collar-crime-in-wake-of-commonwealth-bank-scandal-20140704-3bduv.html   Nationals John Williams calls for a royal commission into white collar crime in wake of Commonwealth Bank scandal July 5, 2014 Adele Ferguson, Ben Butler   The Nationals senator key to last week's bombshell report into fraud, forgery and a cover-up in the financial planning division of the Commonwealth Bank has  called for a royal commission on white collar crime as shockwaves from the debacle spread to other banks.  Senator John Williams said a royal commission should cover areas including the banks, Ponzi schemes and liquidators. ''Anyone who is robbing with a pen needs to be looked at,'' he said.  Senator Williams said he was sick of hard-working Australians or retirees having money they worked all their lives for lost due to widespread white collar crime.   He said widening the royal commission to include Macquarie Group, CBA, ANZ and phoenix companies and liquidators would send a message that...

The committee's chairman, Labor senator Mark Bishop, says ASIC has been complacent in its investigation of the rogue financial planners and further investigation is needed.  "We still don't know how many clients have been affected," he said.  Nationals senator John Williams, the only Coalition member to endorse all 61 recommendations, told News Radio there should be a broad-ranging royal commission into white collar crime in Australia.  Audio: ASIC chairman questions need for royal commission in CBA scandal(The World Today) "Many years ago we heard of the robbers with pistols and guns and rifles and now it seems to be biro and a computer the way people a lose their money and are robbed of their savings," he said.  Senator Williams says the scandal has been a "very big wake-up call" for the Commonwealth Bank and Macquarie Private Wealth.  "We can't go on having people who have worked hard all their life and built up a nest...

Senator blasts ‘snail’s pace’ ASIC ban Written by Aleks Vickovich  Wednesday, 17 July 2013   Source: http://www.ifa.com.au/news/12113-senator-blasts-snail-s-pace-adviser-ban ASIC’s banning of a former Bell Potter adviser convicted of deceptive conduct in April is proof the corporate regulator is reacting too slowly to cases of wrongdoing, says a coalition Senator. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a statement yesterday indicating it had issued former Bell Potter Securities client adviser Lawson Stuart Donald with a permanent ban from financial services, following his conviction for dishonest conduct in the Sydney District Court on April 26. Speaking to ifa, NSW Nationals Senator John Williams – who was instrumental in forcing a parliamentary inquiry into the Commonwealth Financial Planning affair – said the three-month time frame between Mr Donald’s conviction and ban confirms his concerns about ASIC’s ability to monitor wrongdoing in the financial advice industry. “ASIC has got the power to ban people immediately,...