Client compensations for misconduct in the Australian financial services industry nearly tripled to A$618.8m (£381.2m, $490m, €416.2m) in the first half of the year, figures contained in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) biannual enforcement report show.
Following allegations of inappropriate contact, the chief investment officer of Australian wealth manager BT Financial Group has left the business with immediate effect. Other People Moves this week include Quilter Cheviot, Investec, European Wealth and Edison.
A former Westpac banker in Australia has been sent to jail for three years for encouraging elderly and vulnerable customers to borrow over A$2.5m (£1.5m, $1.9m) to invest in a Tasmanian property development, which turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
Australia’s financial services regulator is taking legal action against one of the country’s biggest banks for giving financial advice that failed to put the “best interests” of its clients first.
One of Australia’s big four banks, Westpac Banking Corp, has announced plans to remove all product related incentives from frontline staff in its retail branches as part of efforts to rebuild trust with its customers.
An Australian financial planner is suing his former employer Westpac Institutional Bank for A$800,000 ($591,704, £444,479) on the grounds that his colleagues gave him bad advice about investing in structured financial products.
