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Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) welcomes the announcement that ANZ has admitted to widespread misconduct and has agreed to pay $240 million in penalties. ANZ has admitted to unconscionable conduct, overstating bond trading data by tens of billions, and widespread misconduct affecting nearly 65,000 customers. The matters will now be considered by the Federal Court which…
Read More ANZ Admits to Unconscionable Conduct
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The Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network (ICAN) has welcomed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) timely review of the motor vehicle finance industry. The review aims to address systemic issues affecting consumers in regional, remote, and First Nations communities. ASIC’s review, announced in March, will scrutinise lenders, brokers, and intermediaries for compliance with consumer protection…
Read More ICAN welcomes ASIC review into motor vehicle finance industry
TIME for CHANGE
[S]uper funds are blind to their own failures, with no targets, no monitoring, and no accountability…we’ve seen people subject to years of delay. These are people who’ve just lost a loved one—and they’re forced into a bureaucratic maze with no end in sight.
Read More ASIC report reinforces urgent need for mandatory super standards
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HSBC Bank Australia Limited (HSBC Australia) failed to adequately protect customers scammed out of millions of dollars, according to documents filed by ASIC in the Federal Court today. ASIC alleges HSBC Australia failed to have adequate controls in place to prevent and detect unauthorised payments and failed to comply with its obligations to investigate customer…
Read More Win for Consumers and Advocates as ASIC Sues HSBC Australia, Alleges “widespread and systemic” failings
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Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has welcomed an ASIC report calling on Australia’s insurers to improve their complaints handling processes. “We are disappointed but not surprised.?The findings from ASIC’s review of insurance complaints handling mirrors the experience of many financial counsellors supporting their clients through the claims process,” said Vicki Staff, FCA’s insurance expert. ASIC’s review of…
Read More Review Finds Systemic Failures in Insurers’ Internal Dispute Resolution
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ASIC has made 47 regulatory interventions to address greenwashing misconduct during the 15-month period up to 30 June 2024, including the commencement of two Federal Court proceedings and over $123,000 in infringement notice payments. The range of interventions, outlined in Report 791 ASIC’s interventions on greenwashing misconduct: 2023–2024 (REP 791), are aimed at stamping out misleading and…
Read More ASIC Continues to Focus on Greenwashing
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Australians are being urged to directly seek financial hardship assistance from their bank or lender, as new nationwide research released by ASIC’s Moneysmart sheds light on the state of financial hardship in Australia. The research found that 47% of Australian adults with debt, the equivalent of 5.8 million people, have struggled to make repayments in…
Read More Research Finds Millions Experience Hardship, Yet Many Don’t Ask for Help
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CFA is represented on the ASIC Consumer Consultative Panel (CCP) and is seeking a new CFA representative to fulfil this role. The CCP assists ASIC to identify current and emerging consumer issues in the sectors we regulate; provides feedback on proposed regulatory changes; and through an evidence base of practical experience, inform the development and…
Read More Consumer Representative Opportunity: ASIC Consumer Consultative Panel
Infographic on the ASIC report. Infographic and text-only version can be found at https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2024-releases/24-104mr-asic-report-australians-need-better-hardship-support-from-their-lenders/
Some home loan lenders have made accessing financial assistance so difficult that more than one in three (35%) Australians dropped out of the application process at least once, according to a new ASIC report. The report, Hardship, hard to get help: Lenders fall short in financial hardship support (REP 783) outlines findings from ASIC’s review of 10…
Read More ASIC Report Highlights Industry Hardship Failures
Fraud Alert
ASIC is warning consumers about an increase in the sophistication of fake bond and term deposit scams where scammers are impersonating little-known legitimate financial services businesses, often those without a website or digital footprint. Scammers are mirroring real businesses’ disclosure documents, addresses, International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs), Australian business numbers (ABNs) and Australian financial services…
Read More Scam Alert Issued by ASIC as Scammers Change Methods
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ASIC urges you to hang up on cold callers and scroll past social media click bait offering to help you compare and switch super funds. How super cold calling works Cold callers often use high pressure sales tactics to convince you to buy a product or sign up to a service. Their tactics include making…
Read More ASIC to Consumers: Hang up on super cold callers
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The Federal Court has found Vanguard Investments Australia contravened the law by making misleading claims about certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) exclusionary screens applied to investments in a Vanguard index fund. At a hearing before Justice O’Bryan on 8 March 2024, Vanguard admitted to engaging in conduct that was liable to mislead the public…
Read More ASIC Wins Greenwashing Case Against Vanguard
