ASIC releases updated remuneration guidance
ASIC has released updated regulatory guidance on conflicted remuneration ahead of the phase-out of grandfathered commissions, confirming that all product providers will be required to rebate commissions to clients after the deadline.
In a statement released on Thursday, ASIC said it had updated its Regulatory Guide 246: Conflicted and other banned remuneration to reflect changes to the law since the royal commission and removal of the commissions carve-out on stamping fees for listed investment companies.
The updated guidance reflected that “the ban on conflicted remuneration for financial product advice applies to all benefits given on or after 1 January 2021”.
“Product issuers are required to provide rebates to clients for all previously grandfathered benefits that they remain legally obliged to pay on or after 1 January 2021,” ASIC said.
The guidance noted that product issuers had “some flexibility” and that “the rebate amount provided does not need to precisely match the amount of conflicted remuneration”.
The updated guidance stated that the grandfathered remuneration ban would include benefits that were obliged to be given before 1 January, “e.g. where a product issuer is legally obliged to give an AFS licensee a benefit in December 2020, but does not give the benefit until on or after 1 January 2021”, ASIC said.
The regulator said it would “continue to monitor the industry’s arrangements” in relation to conflicted remuneration following the end of grandfathering, and would “consider taking action where we find misconduct”.
The updated guidance also contained a clarification around life insurance commissions, stating that the law did not prescribe a time frame for repaying commissions under the two-year clawback provisions introduced through the LIF reforms.
“This is consistent with the guidance previously published on the ASIC website,” the regulator said.
