The Government has introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Bill 2024 has been introduced into the House of Representatives. Schedule 1 of the Bill includes amendments to the Corporations Act and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act to implement the Government’s initial response to the Quality of Advice review. Background.

UPDATE: The Bill was passed, with amendments, by the House of Representatives on 29 May 2024. The Bill will be sent to the Senate. The changes made by the House also expand the circumstances in which providers of financial product advice can make FSG information available on their website, as an alternative to providing an FSG to a retail client, and ensure that commissions for relevant insurance products received by persons who provide general advice remain exempted from the ban on conflicted remuneration.

UPDATE: The Bill finally passed both Houses on 4 July 2024 and is awaiting Royal Assent.

If passed, the amendments:

• clarify the legal basis in the SIS Act for superannuation trustees to charge individual members for financial advice from their superannuation account, and clarify associated tax consequences;
• streamline ongoing fee renewal and consent requirements in the Corporations Act, including removing the requirement to provide a fee disclosure statement;
• provide more flexibility on how FSG requirements can be met under the Corporations Act;
• simplify and clarify the provisions governing conflicted remuneration in the Corporations Act, including:
  • clarifying that monetary or non-monetary benefits given by a client are not conflicted remuneration along with the removal of consequential exceptions;
  • introducing a specific exception to the conflicted remuneration provisions that permits a superannuation fund trustee to pay a fee for personal advice where the member requests the trustee to pay the fee from their superannuation account;
  • removing the exception to conflicted remuneration rules for the issue of financial products where advice has not been provided in the previous 12 months;
  • removing the exception to conflicted remuneration rules for agents or employees of Australian ADIs; and
• introduce new standardised consent requirements for life risk insurance, general insurance and consumer credit insurance commissions.

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.