QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd (QBE) will refund more than 35,000 add-on insurance customers up to $15.9 million they paid for insurance bought through car dealerships where the insurance provided little or no benefit. The insurance products were QBE Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) and Consumer Credit Insurance (CCI) sold through car dealerships
Read MoreFree trade agreements are driving a strong surge in Australian wine industry exports, with more yet to come from a transformational $50 million marketing program funded by the Turnbull Government. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Anne Ruston, opening a seminar held by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology
Read MoreAustralian grain industries will benefit from a $3 million grant to create a new Crop Research Hub in Western Australia, charged with improving grain crop productivity and disease resistance Australia wide. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, said Murdoch University had received a $3 million
Read MoreThe Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, today noted the release of a paper by the Black Economy Taskforce outlining a number of additional policy ideas which draw on recent public and stakeholder consultations. In June, the Chair of the Black Economy Taskforce, Mr Michael Andrew
Read MoreASIC today outlined the results of audits conducted by eight banks in Australia following the regulatory action taken in the United States against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo) in late 2016. Overall, the audits did not find evidence of systemic misconduct involving illegal opening of accounts as seen at Wells
Read MoreIn March 2017, ASIC conducted a review of various mobile app stores focusing on apps associated with binary options trading. The review highlighted over 330 apps which were offered to Australians by entities and individuals that appeared to be unlicensed. 63% were offered by binary option issuers and facilitated trading, 25%
Read MoreThe Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) offered by Financial Index Australia Pty Ltd (FIA). The EU comes after ASIC found FIA had moved clients from their existing product into a more expensive FIA branded product, without sufficient explanation or justification. The EU was offered following
Read MoreASIC has brought together representatives from the banking industry and consumer advocates to improve outcomes for consumer credit insurance, with the establishment of a Consumer Credit Insurance (CCI) Working Group. The CCI Working Group will progress a range of reforms, including a deferred-sales model for CCI sold with credit cards over
Read MoreThe Government has today released an exposure draft of the Taxation Administration Regulations 2017and explanatory material. The Taxation Administration Regulations 1976 are due to sunset on 1 October 2017 and will need to be remade so they continue to support the administration of Australia’s tax laws. The exposure draft regulations will remake the
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Five months after announcing it would explore "strategic alternatives" for maximising shareholder value, health information site WebMD said today it has agreed to be acquired for $2.8 billion by Internet Brands, a company that offers online content for several key vertical markets. Founded 19 years ago as CarsDirect.com, Internet Brands is
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