Compliance Corner - ACCC, ASIC

Editorial Staff

4 June 2018

ACCC
Australia is preparing criminal cartel charges against ANZ Bank , its group treasurer, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup over a $2.3 billion share issue.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said federal prosecutors would charge ANZ, its treasurer Rick Moscati, the two investment banks and several more unnamed individuals over the Australian/New Zealand bank's 2015 stock placement.

“The charges will involve alleged cartel arrangements relating to trading in ANZ shares following an ANZ institutional share placement in August 2015,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

According to reports, all three banks have denied wrongdoing and vowed to defend the charges, with Citigroup saying the regulator was effectively criminalising practices long seen as the norm in the financial industry.

ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has banned Perth based financial advisor Desmond Winton Luplau from providing financial services for five years.

ASIC found that Luplau’s record keeping practices were inadequate, that he failed to act in the best interests of his clients, and that he gave advice to clients which was well below community expectations.

Luplau has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision. Luplau's banning will be recorded on ASIC's Financial Advisers Register.

He was an employee of Westpac Banking Corporation from February 2005 to March 2010. Additionally, he was an authorised representative of Charter Financial Planning, a company wholly owned by AMP Financial Planning, from December 2013 to July 2016.

This banning is part of ASIC's wealth management project. The wealth management project was established in October 2014 to lift the standards of major financial advice providers.

As part of its project, ASIC has banned 47 advisors and one director from the financial services industry. Four advisor bannings are the subject of appeals, with a further banning stayed pending the outcome of an appeal.