So many bills, so little time
Several bills with impact for the financial service industry will be debated in the House of Representatives and the Senate when Federal Parliament sites this week.Most important among them is the proposed introduction of ASIC's product intervention powers, which would give the regulator extra power to direct the way banks and other financial services providers market their products. Under Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution and Product Intervention Power) Bill 2018, companies will be required to identify the target market for their product and will need to design the product for that market. They will have to select appropriate distribution channels and periodically review those arrangements to ensure they continue to be appropriate.A "target market determination" must describe the class of retail clients that comprise the target market for the product, specify any conditions or restrictions on sale, specify events and circumstances that would suggest that the determination is no longer appropriate, and specify review periods.Distributors of financial products will be required to take reasonable steps to ensure that products are distributed in accordance with the identified target markets. They will have to keep specified information for monitoring purposes.Distributors will be prohibited from distributing a product unless a current target market determination is in place.Distributors will have to notify a product's offeror, and the offeror will have to notify ASIC, of "significant dealing in a product that is not consistent with the product's target market determination."The new law gives ASIC power to enforce the new arrangements, including stop orders and exemption powers. Civil and criminal penalties apply to contraventions.ASIC's power to intervene is currently limited to dealing with defective disclosure.It is possible that in the wake of the Hayne royal commission final report, the Government may defer the bill to consider widening its scope.A bill to introduce the Pension Loans Scheme is also scheduled for debate. Under arrangements currently in place, part-pensioners and some self-funded retirees can top up the amount of age pension they receive to the maximum available pension. The proposed scheme, set out in Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (supporting Retirement Incomes) Bill 2018, would allow eligible retirees to borrow regular income payments up to 150 per cent of the maximum pension entitlement (less the pension amounts they receive). This opens the scheme up to full age pensioners. The introduction of this scheme is seen as a challenge to the already ailing reverse mortgage market.Other legislation on the parliamentary agenda includes a bill designed to tighten up tax concessions for venture capital funding and a bill that includes various protection measures for low balance superannuation accounts.