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Regulation

Regulation
New min quals worsen Australia’s adviser shortage
Experience may indeed be a great teacher, but as many financial advisers are discovering it accounts for nothing, with a sizable cohort – many with decades under their belts advising clients – failing to meet new qualification criteria. Based on Rainmaker’s analysis of ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR), over a fifth (458) of the 2000 who hadn’t met the new qualifications standard by the end of 2025, have ceased their authorisation since the beginning of December.Adviser numbers virtually halved in six yearsFollowing a massive exodus of professionals over the last seven years, the total number of advisers on the register has fallen from around 28,900 in early 2019 and is currently struggling to stay above 15,000. One of the key reasons for the financial adviser diaspora from the profession is the more onerous education and compliance criteria. In addition to a higher barrier to entry, new requirements have made those closer to retirement question whether they wish to jump through hoops simply to remain in a profession they may have been in before many new entrants to the sector were born. Effective 1 January, new qualification standards mean advisers can no longer provide personal advice if they have not completed
Regulation
Netwealth among trustees targeted in fund collapse probe
Australian regulators have widened their action against superannuation trustees over the A$1 billion (US$660 million) collapse of Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund to include Netwealth Group, Diversa Trustees Limited and Equity Trustees. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Netwealth subsidiaries had admitted contravening the Corporations Act and agreed to pay more than A$100 million to more than 1,000 Australians who invested in First Guardian. Netwealth Superannuation Services Pty Ltd and Netwealth Investments Limited admitted they failed to obtain, and did not assess, sufficient information while offering First Guardian as an investment option on their super platform. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said more than 1,000 members who invested through Netwealth’s platform faced huge uncertainty when First Guardian collapsed. “This is a welcome outcome for many Australians and stems the significant losses that threatened their retirement savings,” Court said in a media release. It was the fourth action ASIC had taken against a trustee in its ongoing First Guardian and Shield investigations, and followed Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) agreeing to compensate investors for A$321 mil
Regulation
Fund collapses expose investor protection gaps - ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has identified regulatory gaps that need to be closed to protect consumers in the wake of the $1 billion collapse of the Shield and First Guardian master funds. Commissioner Alan Kirkland said ASIC’s enforcement priorities included holding those responsible for the collapses to account. “With more than 11,000 investors impacted and close to $1 billion of retirement savings put at risk, it’s the most egregious example of consumer harm that I have seen in my time at ASIC,” Kirkland said in a speech to the Professional Planner Researcher Forum. He said a long chain of participants were culpable, including lead generators like data brokers and telemarketers, financial advisers and financial advice firms, superannuation trustees like Macquarie, Equity Trustees, Diversa and Netwealth, research houses, auditors and the fund operators. “The failures involved in Shield and First Guardian have highlighted some potential regulatory gaps across that chain,” he said. These included regulation of lead generators, super switching, obligations of super trustees who provide platform products and regulation of managed investment schemes. ASIC had commenced proceedings aga
Regulation
Financial advisers outraged by advice compo levy hike
The cost of a scheme that compensates Australians for financial misconduct has blown out, angering the financial advisers who pay the levy that funds it. The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) estimated the levy would be A$137.5 million (US$89.4 million) for the 2027 financial year (FY27), 82% more than the revised FY2026 estimate and more than six times the $20 million cap for the financial advice sector. CSLR CEO David Berry said the initial estimate, which may be revised later, did not include the impact of the Shield and First Guardian master fund collapses, which have cost members more than $500 million and could not yet be reliably estimated. “The rate and scale of firm failures aren’t slowing. The number of impacted consumers continues to rise, and the proportionate negative impact caused by a relative few remains significant,” Berry said in a media release. The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) urged the Government to make urgent and significant changes to the CSLR to ensure its fairness and sustainability. CEO Sarah Abood said it was imperative that financial advisers did not pay more than the already high $20 million sector cap, particularly considering most of the levy was paid by small
Regulation
ASIC widens First Guardian, Shield litigation
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has continued to take legal action over the First Guardian and Shield master fund failures, with proceedings filed in the Federal Court against financial advisory and research firms. ASIC has taken action against Interprac Financial Planning Pty Ltd and SQM Research Pty Ltd in the wake of the fund collapses, which have cost members more than A$500 million. The regulator alleged thousands of Australians were exposed to poor financial advice and significant risks from Shield and First Guardian through critical oversight and compliance failures by Interprac. Interprac allegedly failed to ensure its former authorised representatives, Venture Egg and Rhys Reilly Pty Ltd, complied with the best interests obligations and failed to have adequate risk management systems. “We allege Interprac failed to ensure certain authorised representatives acted in their clients’ best interests, contributing to hundreds of millions of dollars of superannuation being invested in products that were unsuitable, high risk and costly,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in a media release. ASIC has also alleged that SQM Research prepared reports containing misleading representations,

Regulation
Platform operators face action if they fail members
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has called on superannuation trustees to do more to safeguard members’ investments in platform products following the A$500 million (US$331 million) collapse of two investment schemes. APRA has written to trustees to explain the findings of, and actions arising from, its review of the fast growing $397 billion platforms market, which represents 13.1% of APRA-regulated fund assets. The letter calls on trustees to lift standards, outlines APRA’s observations about industry practices and requires them to confirm Financial Accountability Regime accountabilities, consider if they have breached prudential standards and obligations, and plan actions to lift standards. APRA Deputy Chair Margaret Cole said the availability of the First Guardian Master Fund and Shield Master Fund managed investment schemes on platforms had exposed members to the risk of significant loss and uncertainty. Investors have lost more than $500 million in their collapse. Noting a variation in practices across platform trustees, APRA called on all platform trustees to address weaknesses and accelerate efforts to lift standards. Cole said APRA would escalate supervision intensity to ensure that
Regulation
Cboe listing approval intensifies ASX's competition
Australia’s struggling share market operator, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), is facing more competition with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) approving Cboe Australia’s (Cboe) listing market application. This brings to four the number of markets licensed to list securities in Australia: ASX, National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) and Cboe. ASIC said Cboe would be able to list new companies on its platform in competition with ASX and other market operators, giving Australians access to more investment options, initial public offerings and dual-listed foreign entities. The decision reinforced ASIC’s commitment to promote a vibrant and attractive local listing market. “Australia’s capital markets are strong and resilient, but they must continue to adapt to evolving global market dynamics and meet the future needs of our economy,” ASIC Chair Joe Longo said in a media release. “This move will provide more choice for companies to list in Australia, build more links to offshore markets and create more options for investors, which is good news for the Australian economy.” Launched in Australia in 2011 as Chi-X Australia, Cboe accounts for 20% of Austral
Regulation
ASIC flags greater PC anxiety after La Trobe stop order
La Trobe Financial private credit is as safe as houses: At least that’s what investors in this alternative asset manager have been conditioned to expect after receiving the top gong for the fifth consecutive year as Australia’s Best Non-Bank Lender in Money magazine Consumer Finance Awards. However, the non-bank lenders' reputation recently started to unravel after the regulator ASIC commenced interim product stop orders - valid for 21 days unless revoked earlier - against La Trobe US Private Credit Fund (USPC), the 12 Month Term Account and 2 Year Account products offered under the La Trobe Australian Credit Fund and the RELI Capital Mortgage Fund. ASIC raised a red flag over concerns that investors had made an “inappropriate level of portfolio allocation” to the funds, given the underlying risks. In the case of the RELI fund, the target market potentially includes investors who intend to hold the fund as a “core component” (defined as 25 to 75%) of their portfolio. ASIC said it also continues to have concerns around La Trobe's TMD (target market determination) for the USPC Fund.Inappropriate portfolio allocationUnderlying these concerns is an inference that TMD suggests an inappropriate level of portfolio allocation giv
Regulation
ASIC declares fund collapse probes far from over
Australia’s corporate regulator has promised to pursue and hold to account those responsible for the A$500 million-plus collapse of two investment schemes. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it was continuing to investigate people and entities connected to the Shield Master Fund and the First Guardian Master Fund. Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) on Thursday agreed to compensate investors for A$321 million of losses connected to Shield, for which its Macquarie Investment Management Limited subsidiary was trustee for an investment platform that offered the fund. The trustee for the other investment platform that offered Shield, Equity Trustees, is defending Federal Court proceedings launched by ASIC alleging due diligence failures. An ASIC spokesperson said it was conducting multiple investigations into conduct connected to First Guardian, a managed investment scheme operated and managed by Falcon Capital. It was probing people and entities connected to First Guardian, including marketing lead generators, financial advisers and the firms that authorised them, trustees that made First Guardian available via platforms, auditors and scheme operators. ASIC was also continuing to investigate Inf