[Weekly Wrap] Regulation central

There has only been one game in town this week and that is regulation and what it means for advisers.

Friday, October 30th 2009, 4:00PM

The catalyst for many of these stories is the Code Committee's first discussion paper which was released late last week, and its meeting in Wellington. Also over recent weeks detail has started to emerge showing how much it will cost to be an adviser under the new regime.

One of the themes which is coming out of the discussion on competency standards is that the starting point is probably going to be low compared to where they will end up in future years. No doubt this will be a much needed boost for the education providers in the marketplace.

Today's story is well worth a read. IFA past president Bernard Gresham has outlined his views on competency and wants to see mentoring built into the process. He has some interesting ideas which are worthy of a good discussion.

The deposit taking sector continues to bubble along at the moment. The news this morning is that South Canterbury Finance has appointed three new directors (details here).

I was interested to read a piece on one of the big news websites this morning where ANZ's Australian-based boss was critical of bank battle in New Zealand for term deposit money, when this week ANZ and National upped some of their rates (by as much as 150 basis points) and now were market leaders.

Also in depositrates.co.nz this week we report on more credit ratings handed out by S&P, and a new team is running Viaduct Capital.

A debate simmering away in the insurance world is about the level of information people provide when applying for life insurance cover. It's one which has been picked up by the mainstream media recently with the Croft case and over the past week another case involving right-wing blogger Whale Oil. This week the Insurance Ombudsman is suggesting the whole process needs to change.

Also in the insurance news section is a piece about Southern Cross looking to extend its services and provide critical illness cover. No doubt that would shake up the current marketplace.

We round up our insurance news with an opinion piece from Russell Hutchinson: Questions, questions: The top five questions life advisers should be asking their insurers about compliance.

To round out the week we have a special report on Liontamer's latest offering: EMERGE Series 2: New capital protected emerging markets fund.

Have a great weekend
Philip

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