Advisers Regulation

Regulation of advisers

Professional risk management and compliance issues

Main Issues here include:

Anti-money laundering
Sanctions
Bribery and corruption
Engagement letters and terms of business in a multijurisdictional context;
Data protection and information security risks;
Conflicts and confidentiality;
Professional indemnity insurance cover;
Referral and outsourcing arrangements;
Design and implementation of risk management approaches, systems and policies
Insider dealing and market abuse procedures;
Outside business interests;
Managing licensing, registration and practice requirements;
Complaints and claims handling;
Audit programmes;
Regulatory notices or requests for disclosure;
Risk management training;
Managing regulator audits and practice visits;
Internal investigations and external reporting; and
Reputational risks

Ethical Issues

There are major issues of professional and ethical conduct confronting lawyers and other advisers.

Advisers Regulation in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Lawyers are regulated under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008. Chartered accountants are a self-regulated professional group. They must be members of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and are subject to its regulatory standards, mandatory professional development, code of ethics and professional standards. Financial advisers and financial service providers are regulated by the Financial Advisers Act 2008 and the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 has imposed, since 30 June 2013, anti-money laundering reporting requirements on any person in the business of forming trusts (unless exempted) and statutory trustee companies.356 Under this regime, those providing trust-related services as a business are reporting entities required to comply with the regime’s requirements.357 Of course, the purpose of the regime is to deter and detect money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is not concerned with monitoring or regulating the professional competence of the advisers involved in the activities covered, although one might anticipate some flow-on benefits here. Since 30 June 2013, all reporting entities have been required to maintain records and report against anti-money laundering measures contained in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. A reporting entity is partially defined in the Act but also includes a person or class of persons declared by regulations to be a reporting entity; see s 5. Reg 17 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Definitions) Regulations 2011 provides that a person who carries out, as a principal part of their business, the formation of trusts will be a reporting entity. However, reg 20 exempts lawyers who do this in the ordinary course of their business.

The Fair Trading Act 1986 prohibits traders from making false or misleading representations about their services. Remedies are also available under that Act where service providers breach that obligation.

Consumer Protection

General consumer protection regulation is also relevant for advisers.

See Also

Guide to US business advisers
Trust Registration

Further Reading

Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics, Stephen Gillers
Regulation of lawyers: statutes and standards, Stephen Gillers and Roy D. Simon


Posted

in

, ,

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *