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Regulation

Regulation
Australian financial advisers support education reforms
Financial advisers have welcomed reforms to their education requirements proposed by the Australian Government as the nation deals with a severe shortage of advisers in the wake of an exodus over the last seven years. The Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) and Financial Services Council (FSC) backed consultation on the reforms announced by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Daniel Mulino. He said the proposed standard would require prospective advisers to hold any Bachelor’s degree or higher, meet minimum study requirements in finance, economics or accounting and complete mandatory financial advice subjects covering ethics, legal and regulatory obligations, consumer behaviour and financial advice fundamentals. This compares with the current requirement to hold an approved financial advice Bachelor degree or higher covering 11 core knowledge areas including three bridging units and technical competency areas. The current standard has been criticised as complex, lacking flexibility and ineffective in supporting a sustainable pipeline of new financial advisers entering the profession. “These reforms ensure continuing robust professional standards for advisers, including requirements
Regulation
CGT discount back in Canberra’s crosshairs
It’s no secret that the Albanese Labor government has been eyeing a cut to Australia’s once sacrosanct 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount on property owned for over 12 months. Given that previous federal governments have – after some deliberation – been too scared to fall foul of the electorate by tampering with CGT – you may well ask why it’s now back on the drawing board? In case you hadn’t heard, a Senate inquiry is currently examining the CGT discount, and a final report is now due by 17 March 2026. With 90% of benefits flowing to the top 20% of income earners, Canberra’s policy wonks will tell you that slashing the CGT discount will reduce inequality embedded in the current tax structure.Budget cash grabBut putting the moral high ground aside for a moment, modelling by the Grattan Institute suggests reducing the discount to 25% could raise about $6.5 billion annually. This explains why Treasurer Jim Chalmers has got the CGT tax in his sights; The 50% CGT discount is projected to cost the federal budget approximately $247 billion in forgone revenue over the next decade. Industry groups and some economists are vocal in their cautioning of unintended consequences associated with taking a scalpel to the CGT tax d
Regulation
ASIC: Investigations into collapses far from done
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has vowed to keep investigating the A$1 billion-plus collapse of the First Guardian and Shield master funds. In a speech, Commissioner Alan Kirkland outlined the action ASIC had taken, including freezing assets, winding up companies, appointing receivers, preventing travel, banning financial advisers, and cancelling Australian Financial Services licenses. He said the corporate regulator had 12 court cases underway against 21 defendants, including four super fund trustees, in connection with its investigations. Defendants included Equity Trustees, Macquarie Investment Management, Diversa and Netwealth, Interprac Financial Planning and SQM Research. “But we are far from done. There are more cases to come,” Kirkland said in a speech to the Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit in Canberra. He said more than 11,000 ordinary people trying to set themselves up for retirement invested more than $1 billion in Shield and First Guardian. “That’s why addressing the conduct that led to what we’ve seen there is one of ASIC’s biggest priorities,” he said. Kirkland said when he spoke at the same event last year, he was limited in his remarks about ASIC’s work on
Regulation
Greens pressure Labor on CGT discount policy
While there are no immediate threats to Australia’s capital gains tax (CGT) discounts - which halve the profit investors must report as taxable income when selling assets held for over 12 months – there are moves afoot to see this change. There’s growing speculation that the Albanese-led Labor government could end up kowtowing to mounting pressure to have the CGT discount reduced if not scrapped entirely. The NSW Treasury, the Grattan Institute, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, together with various other trade unions and advocacy groups, have actively pushed for the 50% CGT discount to be cut or abolished, particularly in relation to investment properties. However, it’s the repeated calls by the Greens for the 50% CGT discount to be scrapped that are becoming harder for Labor to dismiss. Labor has long held the position that CGT discounts disproportionately benefit those wealthy enough to hold appreciating assets, and a report by Oxfam Australia tends to support this view. Oxfam Australia recently revealed that nearly 50% of the CGT discount goes to 24,000 people who earned over $1 million in 2022-2023. It’s understood that the top 10% of income earners currently receive more than two-thirds of all CGT
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,