Legal Eye

Westpoint auditor, researcher not yet out of the woods

Are KPMG and PIR out of the woods? Presumably Wealthcare and/or the Pollards can still join KPMG and PIR to the proceedings, but they will have to be careful... ... read more »

Be careful what you wish for

If planners are fiduciaries, what sort of fiduciaries are they and what rules apply to them? Further, what is a fiduciary anyway? ... read more »

The licensee dirty tricks guide

Column

The agreement may say both parties can compete for the custom of the client base after termination, but an old licensee will do everything it can to hinder the planner. ... read more »

Reducing the risk of attacks on the will

It may not be the role of the financial planner to advise a client on how to make their estate 'challenge-proof... but the financial planner should at least know such things are theoretically possible. ... read more »

Case sheds further light on poaching clients

Can departing employees contact their employer's clients? If so, is there a limit to what they can say to those clients? ... read more »

Employees being sued for their advice

One of the first basic legal concepts you learn as a budding law student is the doctrine of vicarious liability... put simply, the buck stops with the company... ... read more »

The main event: FICS v IMF

It might not exactly be the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle", but two heavyweights are doing battle. ... read more »

ASIC has too much power? Of course, dear boy

with apologies to the writers of 'Yes, Minister'

"My minister is in a real flap at the moment," said Humpy, as he leaned back into the club's sumptuous leather chair, savouring the bouquet of his brandy. "Why so, may I ask?" said his companion, known in the senior bureaucracy as Piggy... ... read more »

The problem with 'flag of convenience' licensees

Perils of foregoing proper agreements

Like shipping lines that choose the national flag a ship will sail under purely because that nation's shipping regulations are accommodating, there are financial planners who choose their licensee on the basis that the licensee's requirements of them will be similarly accommodating. ... read more »

Power without glory

the limitations of powers of attorney

Did you know you don't own your body? On one view of the law at least there are no property rights attaching to a person's body. ... read more »

• Small unregulated offerings still regulated
• No love lost between lawyers and reverse mortgages