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James is a financial planner in Geelong, a small city about 2 hours south of Melbourne. James has observed profitability decline over the few years

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James is a financial planner in Geelong, a small city about 2 hours south of Melbourne. James has observed profitability decline over the few years and he thinks this is because of competition between financial planners, some of whom charge much lower fees. There are five financial planning businesses in Geelong. James invites all of them to coffee at a trendy caf in Geelong city centre. Over coffee James says: Thanks for coming, and I know you have all been feeling the same financial pressure I have. I think I have found the solution. There are five of us and I reckon there are enough clients for us all to make a good living. The problem is that fees aren't increasing as they should. We can easy fix that. First, why don't we divide Geelong into five territories. We could have central business district, northern district, eastern district, southern district, and western district. Each one of us has one district. When a client rings up, ask where they live, then refer them to the planner who has that district. Tell them it is best for them to have a local planner. That will give a sensible result for us because we will each have a fair share of clients. And let's stop all this discounting fees. Our fees are so low that we can't make a profit. Let's bring our fees up to a fair market value of $200 per hour. That's a minimum, but charge more if you can. The other four financial planners tell James that they think his plan sounds good and that it will be good for both clients and financial planners. James tells the other four financial planners that they won't set out their plan in writing, but that's OK because they all understand what they need to do. Advise the ACCC whether James and the other four financial planners have breached the cartel rules in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Include an explanation of all the elements of the cartel provisions. Explain in detail which conduct by the financial planners may amount to a breach. (10 marks

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