ASIC to review transition to grandfathering ban

The review will cover the steps taken by industry participants from 1 July 2019 until the 2021 deadline, ASIC said in a statement.

It will conduct both quantitative and qualitative reviews, as well as investigate any impediments to this transition, and the extent to which benefits are being passed on to affected clients.

For the quantitative study, ASIC will conduct a survey of entities known to pay grandfathered conflicted remuneration to Australian Financial Services (AFS) Licensees or their representatives and require them under notice to provide data:

• initially for a 12-month period (from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019); and
• thereafter on a quarterly basis for the review period (for example, reporting for the period from 1 July to 30 September 2019 will be in October 2019).

The first notices to entities were issued yesterday and they will be required to provide their responses via a web portal, ASIC said.

As for the qualitative review, ASIC said it will include a smaller sample of entities that pay and receive grandfathered remuneration. This will involve more detailed engagement and analysis during the review period.

ASIC said it will analyse the information from both reviews and is expected to report to the Treasurer by 30 June 2021. Further, the report will also be released to the public.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].