Accountants allowed to give general insurance advice
04 March 2013
Accountants will be able to provide broad general insurance advice under a limited Australian financial services licence from July 1 this year…
Regulatory & Government
ASIC sets out code guidelines
04 March 2013
Codes of conduct for financial services bodies must meet the opt-in objectives of the Future of Financial Advice legislation to win approval, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission…
NZ tribunal fines Insured Group over late accounts
04 March 2013
New Zealand’s Markets Disciplinary Tribunal has again fined Insured Group for late delivery of its annual report to the country’s stock exchange…
Planners fear PI rate rises under FOFA
04 March 2013
Financial planners may see their professional indemnity insurance rates rise under the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms, an Australian Securities and Investments Commission panel has heard…
Insurers back ‘no-fault’ CTP scheme for NSW
04 March 2013
Insurers have welcomed proposed changes to NSW’s costly compulsory third party scheme…
ASIC busts FOFA myths
04 March 2013
Several myths have arisen regarding the Future of Financial Advice reforms, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has warned…
Regulator to check brokers’ trust funds
04 March 2013
The Financial Markets Authority in New Zealand says it will visit businesses including insurance brokers to ensure clients’ money is held in appropriate trust funds…
Government closer to revealing flood cover affordability plans
25 February 2013
The Federal Government’s approach to making flood insurance more affordable will be revealed before the middle of the year, according to Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten…
APRA plans insurance data revamp
25 February 2013
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is proposing an overhaul of its general and life insurance data publications and says it wants all statistics submitted by general insurers to be non-confidential…
ASIC wants flood option on all policies
25 February 2013
About 80% of people are able to access flood cover in their insurance policies, but the figure should be 100%, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission…
Regulator seeks CTP overhaul in NSW
25 February 2013
The Motor Accidents Authority has called for an overhaul of the NSW compulsory third party insurance scheme, to make it more efficient and affordable…
ACCC considers NRMA Insurance complaints
25 February 2013
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it is investigating allegations of bullying and harassment against NRMA Insurance…
Queensland bulks up disaster resilience legislation
25 February 2013
The Queensland Government has widened the role of the state’s reconstruction authority to include improving disaster resilience…
WorkCover Queensland review extended
25 February 2013
The Queensland parliamentary committee reviewing the state’s workers’ compensation scheme has had its reporting date extended to May 23…
MP calls for pool to fix flood cover issue
18 February 2013
Warren Entsch, the federal MP for the north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, has called on the Federal Government to launch a catastrophe insurance pool similar to the terrorism reinsurance pool to make…
No concerns about ASIC turning brokers into advisers
18 February 2013
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s move to label brokers as “insurance advisers” could cause problems over the best-interests duty regulations…
Bushfire research gets funding boost, extended to natural hazards
18 February 2013
The Federal Government will provide $47 million toward a new Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre to build on the work of the existing centre and expand research into other natural hazards…
Mortgage insurance needs regulatory revamp
18 February 2013
A group of international financial regulators known as the Joint Forum is recommending a code of practice to keep the lenders’ mortgage insurance sector healthy and functional…
Craig Horsell to be sentenced next month
18 February 2013
Former SA broker Craig Horsell will be sentenced next month on dishonesty charges after the Adelaide District Court last week adjourned his case for further submissions…
New chair for Safe Work Australia
18 February 2013
Ann Sherry has been appointed as the new chair for Safe Work Australia…