On Friday, the corporate regulator confirmed that, following consultation with the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions, no further action will be taken on the matter.
ASIC’s investigation related to suspected criminal conduct regarding the charging of fees for no service in relation to the BOLR Policy in breach of section 1041G (prohibition on dishonest conduct) of the Corporations Act 2001.
ASIC also investigated AMP for breaches of section 1308(2) (prohibition on making misleading statements) of the Corporations Act in relation to this conduct.
The investigation commenced in April 2019, while two briefs of evidence were brought to the CDPP’s attention mid last year.
“ASIC’s investigations into other allegations of fees for no service conduct within the AMP Limited group are continuing,” a statement released by ASIC read.
“The CDPP has now determined, on the basis of the available evidence and weighing the relevant public interest factors, that no charges should be brought for that conduct.”
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, AMP responded to ASIC’s announcement.
“AMP acknowledges the deficiencies in its historic systems and processes within the Advice business to monitor ongoing service fees in relation to BOLR,” AMP Group General Counsel, David Cullen said.
“In 2018, the business completed the implementation of enhanced systems and controls to improve monitoring and reporting and to protect against recurrence. We have apologised to all affected clients and confirm that remediation was also completed in full in 2018.
“With today’s confirmation that no action will be taken, we are pleased to have closure on this matter.”
Gee if only the rest of us could get the same deal!
Can we now get our Levy money back from ASIC?
Talk about a fee for no service!
What a surprise, the big end of town can do what they like. The rest of us will pay the levy for ASIC’s time to let them off.
Typical. “Nothing to see here” attitude when it comes to the big wigs of the institutions who
cause ALL the problems in the industry. ASIC Only ever really go after the small fries.
Does this mean I don’t need to do Consent forms and Renewal letters FDS any more? Can I keep telling my clients there fees are going up and they need to sign these forms due to AMP?
Justice is blind – apparently deaf and dumb too. To these left behind to pick up the pieces, and find a workable profession, I wish you good fortune in the battles ahead with the regulator, licensee , clients. You are guilty till proven innocent in their eyes.
“The CDPP has now determined, on the basis of the available evidence and weighing the relevant public interest factors, that no charges should be brought for that conduct.”
So what about the public interest of all the other small financial planning practices that have gone to the wall, due to no fault of their own but due to the greed of AMP and the likes. Innocent business owners and clients……
Shame on you ASIC.
If this turns out to be the end result of all ASIC investigations post Hayne Royal Commission then indeed we are in a very sad place. What we will have is an adviser potentially going to prison if they fail to maintain historical records that may have no material significance, yet the client harm caused by the pre-meditated actions of AMP executives going unpunished.
A good outcome for all, the industry and consumers.
This is the only decent comment in this forum. You are correct Anom. Our industry has become so fractured and content in pointing the finger at the large institutions, and cannot understand that in doing so, we continue to degrade the values we represent. Monies have been repaid to consumers who were charged for no fee. Licensees now have implemented procedures to ensure this no longer occurs. Great win for consumers.
Interesting take. If I stole money from you but then paid it back later on (after someone blew the whistle on me), would you be ok and see that as a great win for yourself?
Further, the actions of these large institutions have been totally responsible for the BS regs that we now have. Of course that is also a great win for consumer.
and financial planners are now further buried in red tape, and turning away Australians and into the hands of AMP call centres… yes a great win… a win for AMP.
You are totally missing the point. Licensees previously had no systems in place to determine whether clients were in fact paying fees for no service. My licensee now forwards communication to every client confirming the agreed fee and ensuring they have received the agreed level of service. Stop looking backwards and let’s all work together to promote the value of our industry.
Deep pockets!!!
This is what happens when a Kangaroo Court is established with “community expectation” as the basis.
The damage this has done the industry is incalculable.
Gee – will the CDPP now cast its eye over some other ASIC “pursuits” of recent times( Dover & Terry McMaster ) and pull the pin, or will ASIC, knowing the Adviser Levy is a godsend to arrogance and its ” sue first, ask questions later” approach, STILL be driven by the “heads on poles” boys in the basement
Or was AMP just too big & too opaque to get evidence
Of course no charges will be made. We must all “temper our sense of justice”.
Oh but all the financial advisers who did not do the wrong thing can pay for this investigation .. AMP can skate free..
I assume current advisers are paying for that waste of time too?
It sounds like they couldn’t find anybody they could make responsible for intending the conduct. Afaik intent is a necessary component for criminal prosecution but am happy to be corrected.
All the top executives at AMP who knew they were lying, and took steps to try and cover up their activity walk away scott free. They keep their bonuses, continue to live in their multi million dollar mansions, and continue to work in another top paying role in the same industry. Great job ASIC, can’t wait for the next press release later today telling us how you have banned an adviser to doing one percent of what the AMP executives past and present are responsible for.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
So, they’ve realised that they have destroyed the Company enough…..
Thank god. Just get over the BOLR issue. Deal with it.
Nothing to do with BOLR. Everything to do with ethics, professionalism and doing what is right. Those individuals mostly responsible for the allegedly criminal behaviour and subsequent destruction of the advice industry are free to wander off into the sunset with their reputations and financials intact. Those left behind to clean up the mess suffer the consequences. An absolutely disgusting and vile decision by the CDPP not to pursue those responsible, conveniently announced during a recurrence of covid lockdowns.