Here are the top five stories of 2025.
ASIC turns up heat on Venture Egg boss over $1.2bn fund collapse amid claims regulator was alerted earlier
Ferras Merhi is a name that appeared in many headlines thanks to being at the head of Venture Egg – the advice firm most closely wrapped up in the $1.2 billion fund collapses. Another level of intrigue to this story was added once it was revealed that ASIC had been alerted to some of Merhi’s questionable practices but failed to act. Read the full story here.
Jones announces financial adviser education reforms
One of the main obstacles preventing new advisers getting into the profession is just how overly complicated many of the education requirements are. The Labor government attempted to fix this problem with reforms, which they claimed would make it easier and cheaper to enter the profession, as well as allowing advisers to qualify with a bachelor’s degree in any discipline alongside targeted financial advice subjects. There has been no update on this measure since the election. Read the full story here.
Spotlight turns to Shield and First Guardian auditors amid $1bn collapse
As said before, Shield and First Guardian’s collapse is the biggest story to come out of the financial advice space this year. This article revealed that amongst all the repercussions the industry faced in the fallout, the auditors who signed off the funds’ compliance reports had so far avoided regulatory scrutiny, despite other parties being targeted by ASIC. Read the full story here.
Lambo limbo: First Guardian liquidator’s report sparks Ponzi scheme fears
Continuing on Shield and First Guardian theme, this story highlighted serious concerns about how the fund was run, including the co-mingling of investor money, redemptions paid from new investors fund and assets that may have been significantly overvalued or unrecoverable, and the involvement of a $548,000 Lamborghini Urus purchased with company funds. Read the full story here.
Betting with other people’s money: Jailed adviser’s gambling losses to hit CSLR
Reading more like an episode of Better Call Saul than it did a financial advice news story, this article should serve as a cautionary tale for all in the profession, as well as a prime example of the key design of the CSLR. Specifically, how advisers had to foot the gambling losses of Anthony Del Vecchio, who lost millions of his clients’ money (many of whom were his family) to fuel his addiction, before going to prison and losing it all, leaving his peers to clean up the mess. Read the full story here.
