澳洲注册以跟踪理财规划师需要走得更远

在澳大利亚个人理财



注册以跟踪理财规划师需要走得更远

在解决信心财务策划行业的危机将在周二开始时，企业监管机构推出了全国首个国家注册，跟踪理财规划师的第一步。

这是整个行业的透明度，解除了良好的第一步，但还远远不够。

这促使一些批评者认为该寄存器是一个创可贴解决方案，更大的烟幕或部分，以尽量减少，甚至大事化小，在这个行业的更深层次的问题。

一个澳大利亚国民银行的举报人告诉澳大利亚金融评论寄存器强化了“路径阻力最小”的方式来处理这个问题。

罗德克莱门特
“有太多的漏洞，最终用户解决方案的范围，可能会导致滥用，”他说。 “还有一个隐含的假设，即持牌人将及时时，他们应该和ASIC将及时作出反应，这是考虑建立行为至今不合理的假设，报告违规行为。”

类似的情绪是由CBA举报人杰夫·莫里斯说，谁该行业的问题不是规划师，甚至是“流氓”，但策划机构通过各种手段，公平或犯规鞭打产品的呼应。 “该规划只是在这场比赛而像典当责任出问题时被牺牲，因为他们经常做马前卒，”他说。

更多消费者保护的必需

寄存器，它会出现在澳大利亚证券和投资委员会的MoneySmart网站，不保护消费者免受机构“终止”或“移动的”流氓顾问没有通知监管机构或备案违反报告。也不去问题的心脏，这是矛盾的报酬。该寄存器不包括如何理财规划师支付。鉴于寿险产品仍然佣金为基础，并通过银行平衡计分卡报酬的工作人员，这些重要的资料和有关文件应附。

它提出的问题，为什么联盟设置栏如此之低。它甚至没有跟随美国中央注册登记，其中包括每个规划师有更全面的就业历史的标准，从客户的其他业务活动和董事会和投诉的详细信息。登记和终止，包括细节，如顾问能否离开公司，他或她是否出院，获准辞职，终止，自愿或“其他”。

澳大利亚新寄存器将包括顾问的名称，注册号，顾问的许可，工作经历（可追溯到五年）;任何禁令，取消资格或强制执行的承诺;而谁拥有金融服务牌照，其中包括最终母公司。

在一个中央数据库提供这些信息将闪耀一盏灯理财规划师在这个国家的数量，有多少是独立的，有多少属于垂直整合模式。

鉴于80％的顾问们直接授权给一个机构或由机构拥有的实体授权的份额，这为消费者提供了澄清，他们正在处理，建议的可能方向谁，谁的利益顾问很可能代表说，彼得·约翰斯顿，独立拥有金融专业人士协会常务理事。 “垂直整合模式的机构运作的唯一目的，就是关于房子的顾问在内部的产品销售给消费者，”他说。

当学历和专业团体的会员包括从5月底，它将把目光对准顾问教育水平。目前基本RG146标准，有资格作为一个理财师可以采取少于八天才能完成的开卷，无监督的环境。

寄存器是联盟的一个具有里程碑意义的参议院调查由马克主教主持，即要求一个皇家调查委员会CBA的理财规划师，揭露之后被举报人杰夫·莫里斯的不当行为，包括欺诈和管理覆盖了关键的回应。

严重缺陷

该联盟拒绝了大部分的建议和使用的寄存器作为灵丹妙药来解决一个行业，已经存在严重缺陷多年。

在CBA多最近NAB最近的丑闻，显示出与寄存器一些严重的缺陷。如果机构悄然“终止”或流氓顾问“继续前进”的报告他们ASIC替代 - 或延误报告他们 - 客户不受保护。

例如，CBA财务顾问斯图尔特·贾米森曾在CBA的理财规划师在西澳大利亚从2003年直到他2012年5月辞职，后几个月的银行展开了调查他。它提出了违反报告ASIC近18个月后。同时，他又加入其他三个操作。

去年七月，财务策划协会终于收到举报的指控有些客户的签名伪造后赶了上来。在FPA展开了调查，并在一个月后开除他为会员。据报道他ASIC，谁被认为已经差不多一年前展开了调查。

贾米森并没有被禁止，所以他会出现在登记册上的“清洁皮肤”为突破口报告不包括在登记册上。

这就是为什么马克主教，谁已经从参议院退休，相信寄存器应该有规划的职业生涯历史的全部细节，包括所有的活动中，发生的任何违规行为，原因和后续影响。比全透明无外乎应该要求这一新兴行业。 “这不是一个或三个流氓规划师，但持续的系统性欺诈，”他说。 “牙齿需要给予ASIC然后到财务策划行业机构妥善警察自己的行业，没有什么不同，以律师和医生，会计师。”

马修·罗，胡德斯威尼的常务董事，也是热衷于清理工业和修复自己的形象。他说，金融服务生态系统需要有打电话不良行为的勇气的领导人。 “这是不可接受的流氓顾问被允许辞职，他们的雇主认为他们通过管理一个安静的退出成功。如果一个医生是不是安全和他们的同事知道他们损害的患者，他们根本就没有被允许继续 - 它将加以处理。」

简单地说，ASIC需要红旗与违反报告提出。

在过去的两年NAB已经“暂停，终止或保证辞职”37 NAB理财规划师和顾问对准由于利益冲突，不恰当的建议，不恰当的做法，或严重或重复违反合规性。它还确定了一些高收入者谁也终止，因为他们不符合文化。

通过NAB公布举报人的内部文件说：“NAB财富有着悠久的历史，去终止高产顾问谁不适合其文化回到上世纪90年代，一些著名的例子包括：格雷姆·考伯（NAB理财规划，2010 ），终止文件的重建和违反合规性;尼克·辛克莱（加文，2012），提出由于利益涉及房地产开发冲突;以及劳瑞·奥尼尔（戈弗雷彭有限公司，2013年），在戈弗雷彭布罗克实践发展集团总裁由于持续的依从性差继续前进。“所有已联系并否认有任何不当行为。

ASIC已经证实，它正在调查NAB在规划者的“终止”，其处理，补偿的质量支付给受害人，并报告违规行为的及时性。 37多名规划师是“感动的​​”，八违反报告被提起。

由于NAB丑闻上个月爆出，NAB财富首席执行官安德鲁Hagger曾表示，银行将通知ASIC每当财务顾问离开。

这是值得称道的，但它只能帮助客户 - 和业界 - 如果ASIC行为上的信息，并采取对那些应得的执法行动。与野蛮削减ASIC的预算联盟，和正在缓慢行动的跟踪记录，这并不灌输在同一时间的信心时，成千上万的客户都需要依赖于合理的建议。

Register to track financial planners needs to go further

The first step in addressing a crisis of confidence in the financial planning industry will begin on Tuesday when the corporate regulator launches the country's first national register to track financial planners.

It is a good first step in lifting transparency across the industry, but does not go far enough.

It has prompted some critics to suggest the register is a band-aid solution or part of a bigger smokescreen to minimise, indeed trivialise, the deeper problems in this industry.

A National Australia Bank whistleblower told The Australian Financial Review the register reinforced the "path to least resistance" approach in dealing with the problem.

Rod Clement
"There are too many holes in the scope of the end-user solution and will likely give rise to abuse," he said. "There is also an implied assumption that licensees will promptly report breaches when they should and that ASIC will timely respond which are unreasonable assumptions given the established behaviour to date."

Similar sentiments are echoed by CBA whistleblower Jeff Morris, who says the industry's problems are not about planners or even "rogue" planners but institutions flogging product by all means, fair or foul. "The planners are just the pawns in this game and like pawns liable to be sacrificed when things go wrong, as they frequently do," he said.

MORE CONSUMER PROTECTION NEEDED

The register, which will appear on the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's MoneySmart website,  doesn't protect consumers from institutions "terminating" or "moving on" rogue advisers without notifying the regulator or filing a breach report. Nor does it go to the heart of the problem, which is conflicted remuneration. This register doesn't include how financial planners are paid. Given life insurance products are still commission-based and banks remunerate staff through a balanced scorecard, such important information and relevant documents should be attached.

It raises questions why the Coalition set the bar so low. It didn't even follow the standards of the US Central Registration Depository, which includes a fuller employment history of each planner, details of other business activities and boards and complaints from customers. Registration and termination includes details such as whether an adviser leaves a company whether he or she was discharged, permitted to resign, terminated, voluntary or "other".

The new Australian register will include the adviser's name, registration number, the adviser's licensee, employment history (dating back five years); any bans, disqualifications or enforceable undertakings; and who owns the financial services licence, including the ultimate parent company.

This information available on a central database will shine a light on the number of financial planners in this country, how many are independent and how many belong to the vertically integrated model.

Given 80 per cent of advisers are either licensed directly to an institution or licensed by an entity owned by the institutions, this gives consumers clarity on who they are dealing with, the likely direction of advice and whose interests the adviser is likely to represent, says Peter Johnston, executive director of the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals. "The sole purpose of the vertically integrated models institutions operate, is about in house advisers selling in house products to consumers," he says.

When qualifications and membership of a professional body are included from the end of May, it will put the spotlight on adviser education levels. The current basic RG146 standard to qualify as a financial planner can take less than eight days to complete in an open-book, non-supervised environment.

The register was the Coalition's key response to a landmark Senate inquiry chaired by Mark Bishop, which called for a royal commission into CBA's financial planning division, in the wake of revelations by whistleblower Jeff Morris of misconduct, including fraud and a management cover up.

SERIOUSLY FLAWED

The Coalition rejected most of the recommendations and used the register as the panacea to fix an industry that has been seriously flawed for years.

Recent scandals at CBA and more lately NAB, show some serious flaws with the register. If institutions quietly "terminate" or "move on" rogue advisers instead of reporting them to ASIC – or delay reporting them – customers are not protected.

For instance, CBA financial adviser Stuart Jamieson worked at CBA's financial planning division in Western Australia from 2003 until he resigned in May 2012, a few months after the bank launched an investigation into him. It filed a breach report to ASIC almost 18 months later. Meanwhile, he went on to join three other operations.

Last July, the Financial Planning Association finally caught up with him after receiving a tip-off alleging forgery of some client signatures. The FPA launched an investigation and a month later expelled him as a member. It reported him to ASIC, who is believed to have launched an investigation almost a year ago.

Jamieson has not been banned and so he would show up on the register as a "clean skin" as breach reports are not included on the register.

It is why Mark Bishop, who has retired from the Senate, believes the register should have full details of the career history of planners, including all activities, any breaches that occur, the reasons and follow-up consequences. Nothing less than full transparency should be demanded of this emerging profession. "This isn't about one or three rogue planners but ongoing systemic fraud," he says. "Teeth need to be given to ASIC and then to the financial planning industry bodies to properly police their own industry, no different to lawyers and doctors and accountants."

REPAIRING THE IMAGE

Matthew Rowe, managing director of Hood Sweeney, is also passionate about cleaning up the industry and repairing its image. He says the financial services eco-system requires leaders that have the courage to call bad behaviour. "It is unacceptable that a rogue adviser is allowed to resign and their employer thinks they have succeeded by managing a quiet exit. If a doctor was not safe and their colleagues knew they were harming patients, they would simply not be allowed to continue – it would be dealt with."

Put simply, ASIC needs red flags to be raised with breach reporting.

In the past two years NAB has "suspended, terminated or ensured the resignations" of 37 NAB financial planners and aligned advisers due to conflicts of interest, inappropriate advice, inappropriate practices or serious or repeat compliance breaches. It also identifies some high-revenue earners who it terminated because they didn't fit the culture.

An internal document released by an NAB whistleblower says: "NAB Wealth has a long history, going back to the 1990s, of terminating high-producing advisers who do not fit its culture. Some notable examples include: Graeme Cowper (NAB Financial Planning, 2010), terminated for file reconstruction and compliance breaches; Nick Sinclair (Garvan, 2012), moved on due to conflicts of interest involving property development; and Lawrie O'Neill (Godfrey Pembroke Limited, 2013), president of the Godfrey Pembroke Practice Development Group, moved on due to sustained poor compliance." All have been contacted and deny any wrongdoing.

ASIC has confirmed it is investigating NAB over its handling of the "termination" of planners, the quality of the compensation paid to victims, and the timeliness of reporting breaches. Of the 37-plus planners it "moved on", eight breach reports were filed.

Since the NAB scandal broke last month, NAB Wealth chief executive Andrew Hagger has said the bank will notify ASIC whenever a financial adviser departs.

It is commendable but it can only help customers – and the industry – if ASIC acts on the information and takes enforcement action on those that deserve it. With savage cuts to ASIC's budget by the Coalition, and a track record of being slow to act, this doesn't instil confidence at a time when hundreds of thousands of customers need to depend on sound advice.


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