By: Claudine Salameh and Tamsyn Sharpe
ASIC has recently published its findings following an investigation into the insurance industry’s level of compliance with internal dispute resolution (IDR) obligations. Report 802 Cause for complaint: Complaints handling in general insurance revealed that general insurers are consistently falling short of their legal obligations thereby limiting customers’ ability to access fair, timely and effective IDR processes.
Read MoreBy: Claudine Salameh and Tamsyn Sharpe
Financial firms are required to maintain clear internal dispute resolution (IDR) processes to allow customers to seek redress where they are dissatisfied with the firm’s products or services. Access to fair, timely and effective IDR is an important tenet of consumer protection. Financial firms are required to acknowledge the receipt of a customer’s complaint within 24 hours and resolve standard complaints within 30 days.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight, Ben Kneebush and Madison Jeffreys
As Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be adopted and used by Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees broadly, it has become increasingly evident that many licensees’ deployment of AI falls short of their existing regulatory obligations and emerging best practices.
Read MoreBy Hazel Doyle and Nicola McCaffrey
In an important speech, Derville Rowland, the Central Bank of Ireland’s Deputy Governor for Consumer and Investor Protection has outlined the Central Bank’s approach to ETFs in Ireland. Some of the points she made are highlighted in this blog.
Read MoreBy: Gayle Bowen and Hazel Doyle
Following a review of the Irish funds industry and wide engagement with industry participants, discussed in our earlier blog here, the Department of Finance has issued its Final Report on the Funds Sector 2030. The report sets out the Irish government’s framework and recommendations to enhance growth in the funds sector and maintain Ireland’s prominent position.
Read MoreBy: Cheryl L. Isaac, Clifford C. Histed, and Benjamin C. Skillin
On 2 October 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced multiple actions related to fraud in the voluntary carbon credit (VCC) market, just over one year after establishing the Environmental Fraud Task Force. Specifically, the CFTC filed a complaint in federal court against the former CEO of a carbon credit project developer and, on the same day, settled charges against CQC Impact Investors LLC (CQC) and its former COO, all related to a deceptive scheme purportedly intended to reduce carbon emissions.
Read MoreBy: C. Todd Gibson, Robert H. McCarthy Jr., and Jamie M. Robinson
The time has come to finalize those end-of-year checklists and for anyone with US entities, foreign entities doing business in the United States, or for those who are planning to form or register entities to do business in the United States, the United States Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) should be at the top of the list. This includes investment advisers and funds that they manage.
Read MoreBy: Áine Ní Riain and Gayle Bowen
The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has announced a streamlined filing process for Irish UCITS and AIFs seeking to change their name to comply with the European Securities and Markets Authority’s guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms (the Guidelines).
Read MoreBy: Pablo J. Man, C. Todd Gibson, and Lisa N. Ju
On 25 September 2024, the SEC announced settled charges against 23 entities and individuals for failing to make timely filings about their holdings and transactions on Schedules 13D and 13G and on Forms 3, 4 and 5, pursuant to Sections 13 and 16 of the 1934 Act, respectively. The individuals charged were officers, directors and/or beneficial owners of publicly traded companies that failed to make “insider” filings. Two firms were charged for contributing to their officers’ and directors’ failures to file insider reports and for failing to comply with their own disclosure obligations to report such delinquencies. The penalties ranged from US$10,000 to US$750,000, and in the aggregate exceeded US$3.8 million.
Read MoreBy Cheryl L. Isaac, Matthew J. Rogers, and Benjamin C. Skillin
On 20 September 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released final guidance regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit (VCC) derivative contracts on CFTC-registered exchanges known as designated contract markets (DCMs). VCCs are tradable, intangible instruments issued by a carbon crediting program and generally represent the equivalent of one metric ton of carbon dioxide avoided or removed from the atmosphere. As with other commodities, the CFTC does not have regulatory authority over VCCs, but can promulgate guidance and regulations related to derivatives on VCCs.
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