Question One

a)What is the general obligation imposed upon AFSL's and their individual advisors?

b)What are the specific duties owed by an advice provider to a retail client and the consequences of breach? Are there any defenses available if in breach?

c)In relation to financial product advice, what is the difference between general advice and personal advice and why is it important?

Question Two

"In the financial advisor-client relationship, the client can seek remedies for breach of advisor obligations across a wide scope of consumer protection provisions, however, the statutory remedy is always the preferred path".

Discuss the accuracy of the above statement. Ensure you justify your answer.

Question Three

What is the relevance of ASIC to consumer protection?

Question Four

What is

a) unconscionable conduct and

b) misleading and deceptive conduct and how are these prohibited under the statute in relation to the provision of financial services?

Give some specific statutory examples of both.

Question Five

What are Industry Codes of Conduct and why do these Codes benefit consumers?

Question Six

a)What is a conflict of interest and why is financial advisor remuneration such a contentious topic and how must this be dealt with by an AFSL?

b)What is the statutory meaning of conflicted remuneration, what is the prohibition related to an AFSL, and summarise the Royal Commission's findings in relation to this topic.