Risk People as at 18 April 2017

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New Appointments
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Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority kicks off with new members
Kelly O'Dwyer, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, has announced the members of the new Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA). The committee is to set mandatory educational and training standards for financial advisers, creating an industry exam and a code of ethics. The new program will start from 1 January 2019, with the code of ethics kicking in on 1 January 2020. 

  • Catherine Walter, FASEA chair (director of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Payments Systems Board, and Australian Foundation Investment Company)

  • Deborah Kent (former AFA president, managing director (MD) and founder of Integra Financial Services)

  • Matthew Rowe (former FPA board chair, chief executive officer (CEO) and MD at Countplus Limited, former MD at Hood Sweeney)

  • Stephen Somogyi (director of Guild Group and UniSuper, adviser at Monash University, Victoria University and University of Melbourne, former executive at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority)

  • Catriona Lowe (director at the Financial Ombudsman Service, Legal Practice Liability Committee (Vic), co-chair of the ACCC Consumer Consultative Committee, former chair of the Consumers' Federation of Australia)

  • Carolyn Bond AO (director at Legal Services Board (Victoria), Debt Repayment Service Board, adjunct professor at Deakin University, former co-CEO of Consumer Action Law Centre)

  • Michael O'Neill (former CEO of National Seniors Australia, former CEO of the Australian Gold Council and AgForce Queensland)

  • Dr Mark Brimble (Professor of Finance at Griffith Business School, Griffith University, chair of the Financial Planning Education Council, member of the Professional Planner Advisory Board and TEQSA Panel of Experts)

  • Dr Simon Longstaff AO (executive director of the Ethics Centre, on the board of Banking and Finance Oath, BHP Billiton Forum of Corporate Responsibility, BT Professional Standards Council, Westpac Stakeholder Council, IAG Ethics Committee, AUSTRADE Ethics Committee)

Synchron appoints new state manager
Synchron has promoted Sheridan Wright to South Australia/Northern Territory state manager from regional manager for advice. This completes the set, with every state now having a Synchron office and state manager. 

AMP restructures advice unit
AMP has rearranged its AMP-branded operations so they are all within the same unit, with separate governance activities for each advisory arm. Each licensee is to have its own independent board, and as a result, some team restructuring has occurred: 

  • Michael Guggenheimer - executive director of advice (moving from his role as Hillross Financial Services MD)

  • Dean Thomas - moving from his role at Hillross as director of product strategy and services

  • Neil Swindells - new MD for Charter

  • Chris Digby - MD of SMSF advice and Jigsaw, moving from head of financial planning in New South Wales for Hillross

  • Dave Akers - director of channel strategy and services, succeeding Michael Paff

  • Michael Paff - MD for an integrated unit that contains AMP Financial Planning, AMP Advice, AMP Horizons, and AMP Direct

Suncorp appoints non-executive director
Suncorp has appointed Simon Machell to the board as a non-executive director, replacing outgoing board non-executive director Geoff Ricketts, who retired. Machell is currently a non-executive director and chairman of the risk committee at Prudential Corporation Asia and chairman of Tesco Underwriting.