Submissions to the Senate Economics Committee inquiry the Future of Financial Advice bills close on 27 January.

 

The Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011 amends the Corporations Act 2001 to:

  • require financial advisers to provide a fee disclosure statement to a client when charging advice fees for longer than 12 months;
  • require financial advisers to provide a fee disclosure statement and a renewal notice to a client when charging advice fees for longer than 24 months; and
  • extend the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s licensing and banning powers used to supervise the financial services industry.

 

The Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011 amends the Corporations Act 2001 to:

  • require financial advisers to act in the best interests of their clients and to put their client’s interests ahead of their own when providing advice;
  • ban the payment and receipt of certain remuneration which has the potential to influence the financial product advice given to retail clients;
  • ban volume-based shelf-space fees from asset managers or product issuers to platform operators; and ban asset-based fees on borrowed client monies.

 

More information and submissions received to date are available here. Public hearings are scheduled for 23 and 24 February in Canberra.

 

The Committee will report by 14 March 2012.

 

The House of Representatives Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services is also inquiring into the two bills. Submissions to this inquiry closed in December, and the Committee will report by 29 February. More information is here.