Compliance
Compliance Corner - ACCC, ASIC
The latest compliance news in wealth management across Asia-Pacific.
ACCC
Australia is preparing criminal cartel charges against ANZ Bank[tag], its group
treasurer, Deutsche Bank and
Citigroup over
a $2.3 billion share issue.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said
federal prosecutors would charge ANZ, its treasurer Rick Moscati,
the two investment banks and several more unnamed individuals
over the Australian/New Zealand bank's 2015 stock
placement.
“The charges will involve alleged cartel arrangements relating to
trading in ANZ shares following an ANZ institutional share
placement in August 2015,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a
statement.
According to reports, all three banks have denied wrongdoing and
vowed to defend the charges, with Citigroup saying the regulator
was effectively criminalising practices long seen as the norm in
the financial industry.
ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has
banned Perth based financial advisor Desmond Winton Luplau from
providing financial services for five years.
ASIC found that Luplau’s
record keeping practices were inadequate, that he failed to act
in the best interests of his clients, and that he gave advice to
clients which was well below community expectations.
Luplau has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision. Luplau's banning will
be recorded on ASIC's Financial Advisers Register.
He was an employee of Westpac Banking Corporation from February
2005 to March 2010. Additionally, he was an authorised
representative of Charter Financial Planning, a company wholly
owned by AMP Financial Planning, from December 2013 to July
2016.
This banning is part of ASIC's wealth management project. The
wealth management project was established in October 2014 to lift
the standards of major financial advice providers.
As part of its project, ASIC has banned 47 advisors and one
director from the financial services industry. Four advisor
bannings are the subject of appeals, with a further banning
stayed pending the outcome of an appeal.
