Unlicensed telemarketers will be banned from cold-calling Australians and making unsolicited approaches to persuade them to switch super accounts under a new government crackdown.
Financial Services Minister and Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino will use his first National Press Club address on Wednesday to unveil a tougher penalty regime for breaches of anti-hawking laws, while also restricting advisers from proactively contacting prospective clients.
Under the reforms, advisers would only be allowed to initiate contact with existing clients and would be held more accountable for the conduct of third-party lead generators they engage, in a bid to prevent another Shield or First Guardian-style collapse.
‘These reforms are designed to disrupt some of the most damaging business models operating in the system today,’ Mr Mulino will say, according to extracts released by his office.
The crackdown forms part of the government’s response to a web of conflicted advice, commissions and aggressive marketing that allegedly lured investors out of mainstream superannuation funds and into the doomed schemes.
Many Shield and First Guardian victims were exposed to lead generators by plugging their details into super health check services to see if they were on-track for retirement.
During his address Mulino will outline government plans to ‘make the financial system safer across the superannuation, advice and investment ecosystem,’ and it is widely expected his speech will also consider the future of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort.
ASIC is conducting multiple investigations into the First Guardian Master Fund and its directors, including David Anderson, who allegedly siphoned millions of dollars from the fund into his personal ANZ bank account.
Unlicensed telemarketers will be banned from cold-calling Australians and making unsolicited approaches to persuade them to switch super accounts under a new government crackdown
David Anderson (pictured) allegedly siphoned millions of dollars from the fund into his personal ANZ bank account
The corporate watchdog further alleges Anderson moved $274million offshore after learning he was under investigation.
Before the fund collapsed, Anderson purchased a $9million mansion in Melbourne’s Hawthorn.
Fellow director Simon Selimaj, 63, had a $548,000 Lamborghini Urus registered in his name, which liquidators allege was bought using money linked to the fund.
Liquidators say just $1.6million has so far been recovered from the $1.2billion collapse.
