Financial Advice Regulatory and Legal Obligations

This course will provide students with a contextual overview of the legal and regulatory issues that apply to Australia's financial services sector. To facilitate critical reflection upon the strengths and weaknesses of Australia's financial services legal and regulatory regimes, and to equip students with the knowledge and practical skills they need to ensure that they are able to comply with those regimes. Introduction to the Australian legal system; business organisations including companies and partnerships and the respective roles and duties played by directors, officers and partners; introduction to the law of tort (with a special emphasis on negligence) and the law of contracts; theoretical and comparative analysis of financial services regulation; overview of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), Ch 7; the role of the Australian Securities Investment Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre; financial products, dealing in financial products and providing financial product advice; regulatory responses to innovation and new forms of financial products; licensing of financial advisers and relevant professional standards; compliance and risk management systems in financial institutions and firms; exemptions and breach reporting; client, data security and privacy obligations; client care; obligations regarding client funds; money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulation; complaints and dispute resolution.