There is a glaring omission in the AFCA Act that allows financial advisers to avoid the new jurisdiction. Currently, if a person is unhappy about financial advice they have received (including advice about super), they can lodge a complaint against the adviser with FOS. However, that gate will be closed from 1 November 2018, as AFCA…
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Last week, the Full Court of the Federal Court handed down judgement in Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited v Billinghurst.[1] Greenfields acted for Mr Billinghurst. This was the third decision against the trustee (following the determination of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal[2] (SCT) and the judgment of Moshinsky J in first instance[3]). Mr Billinghurst was a retired…
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The Interim Report on the Review of the financial system external dispute resolution framework was released yesterday (6 December). The Report includes 11 draft recommendations: A financial, credit and investment disputes Ombudsman There should be a single industry ombudsman scheme for financial, credit and investment disputes (other than superannuation disputes) to replace FOS and CIO.…
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Supplementary NSW Supreme Court decision: Beck v Colonial Staff Super Pty Ltd (No.2) July 2015 decision In July this year, the NSW Supreme Court (Court) upheld a claim that the actions of the trustee of the Commonwealth Bank Officers’ Fund were void. In particular, the Court held that the deletion of a discretionary power to…
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In a recent decision, the NSW Supreme Court (Court) upheld a claim that the deletion of a discretionary power to pay an increased benefit was invalid, not in members’ best interests and breached the SIS restriction against adverse alterations to accrued benefits. Background Mr Peter Beck was a member of the Commonwealth Bank’s (Bank’s) staff superannuation…
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There are definite trends in superannuation litigation, particularly in relation to insured benefits. Many funds will have noticed that proceedings are often being commenced earlier than they were in the past. More recently we have noticed that plaintiffs are also seeking ways to render trustees liable for failing to take a more proactive role in…
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