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Movement on reform

Right on the edge of calling an election, Financial Services and Regulation Minister Joe Hockey has managed to get the last revised draft Financial Services Reform Act regulations out of Treasury and signed off.

While the 500 or so pages make it a bit difficult to give an accurate assessment of the impact of the new regulations – we’ll report in depth next week – it’s expected that last-minute lobbying by accountants will have altered their regulatory standing.

The accountants have been trawling the corridors of Canberra for several weeks now, seeking a watering-down of the regulations to make them more competitive with lawyers, who won considerable concessions. “You can achieve wonders when you’re a large professional body and an election is looming,” one Canberra source said.