Australia
AIA pays $2.4bn for Aussie and New Zealand life insurers
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has sold its life insurance businesses in Australia and New Zealand to AIA Group for A$3bn (£1.8bn, $2.4bn, €2bn).
Tax & Regulation | 4 Sep 17
Aussie watchdog turns spotlight on IFA remuneration practices
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) plans to build consumer trust in financial advice by focusing on remuneration and incentives practices within the industry.
Tax & Regulation | 31 Aug 17
Australia ramps up strategy to hit aggressive int’l tax plans
Australia’s tax avoidance taskforce has set out a new strategy to target aggressive international trust planning, having already raised over A$279m (£182m, €197m) over the last four years through its fight against “tax avoidance or evasion by privately owned and wealthy groups”.
Best Practice | 24 Aug 17
Aussie IFA body pushes for reform of ‘independent’ definition
The Australian Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) has stepped up efforts to amend the legal definition of “independent advice” through the publication of a white paper seeking to challenge the regulator’s views.
Crocodile Dundee fraudster’s Italian trial collapses
The Italian trial of a Jerseyman at the centre of Australia’s biggest ever tax evasion scandal that ensnared Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan has collapsed.