Fund Product, Company and Regulatory Updates as at 27 April 2016

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Product Updates
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NAB and PwC Create UberX and Friends Tax App
NAB and PwC will be providing micro businesses (like UberX drivers) with data support for the self-employed. The Airtax app collects and processes GST automatically, with the app integrating with NAB transaction accounts with income and expenses data. It lodges the GST statements with the tax office automatically. A Visa debit also uses the Airtax service. 

ETF Securities Closes 10 Funds
ETF Securities has closed 10 of its funds due to a lack of interest from Australian investors. The 10 funds are: 

  1. The ETFS Agriculture
  2. All Commodities
  3. Copper
  4. Corn
  5. Natural Gas
  6. Grain
  7. Industrialised Metals
  8. Energy
  9. Brent Crude
  10. Wheat

Regulatory Updates
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Banks Reviewing Commissions and Compensation
Australian banks under the supervision of the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) are implementing mandatory, last-resort compensation schemes for financial advisers, and will be removing or changing product-based commissions and payments. An employee register will track all consumer and non-consumer facing roles, plus those advisers on the ASIC register. The aim is to offer consumers greater transparency and accountability from their banks. 

ASIC Gets Extra Funding, Reforms in Pipeline
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will receive an extra $127.2 million in a reform package from the Government. Reforms include, as of 2017, the finance industry itself paying for ASIC, rather than the Australian public - those creating the need for ASIC pay. 

Regulators to Undergo Certificate Program
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School (PIFS-HLS) have announced a joint Global Certificate Program for Regulators of Securities Markets. The executive education program is exclusively for regulators of financial markets, and covers securities regulation and compliance, and current and future regulatory challenges and emerging issues. The program begins in October. 

Deutsche Bank AG Pays $20,000 Penalty
Deutsche Bank has been given an infringement notice by the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP) after the bank failed to make a necessary enquiry via the message facility of the ASX 24 Market, and waiting the prescribed period to entering orders for execution onto its trading platform, as required by rules.