Financial Services Corporate Advisory

Argyle advises businesses and supports professional advisers operating in the financial services sector in building and maintaining effective business and advisory frameworks and in managing legal, regulatory, and reputational risk.

We provide services covering all aspects of your business and advisory cycle, including:

• advice on legislative, regulatory and professional obligations;
• audit and review of compliance, risk, professionalism and ethics frameworks;
• coaching and mentoring of responsible managers, compliance and advisory staff;
• codes and standards development and review;
• competencies and training programs for advisory divisions, compliance and legal staff and responsible managers;
• dispute resolution, litigation and mediation;
• ethics and integrity framework advice, development and training;
• facilitation and advice at Board and Management Strategy sessions;
• health checks conducted on integrity and advisory frameworks;
• identification and advice on ethics and advisory risks;
• independent expert reports and assessments;
• managing your relationships with the industry regulators;
• precedents, procedures and documentation development and review;
• transition advice to effectively prepare for and implement legislative and professional reforms; and
• surveys and research on matters affecting your business and industry.

How can we help you?

You the Australian Financial Services Licensee

• Assist with advice on your legislative, regulatory and professional obligations.
• Undertake a health check and review your existing compliance, governance and ethics frameworks, business rules, policy documents, and operating manuals.
• Manage, mediate or litigate your commercial and industrial disputes and advise you in relation to client claims and complaints.
• Support the investigation and remediation of adviser related and operational incidents.
• Prepare independent expert assessments of business, advisory and operational risks for your board and senior management.
• Assist you to manage your relationships with industry regulators and your breach reporting obligations.
• Provide strategic advice on structuring, operational initiatives, advisory models, product and service development, organisational and planner competency requirements, and professional standards obligations.
• Provide customised workshops, presentations and training in financial services law, ethics, and professional standards.
• Assist you to better position your business to prepare for and take advantage of future industry reforms, such as FOFA.
• Develop, implement or review your ethics frameworks, systems, and procedures.
• Draft values statements, codes of ethics, codes of conduct, organisational standards, policies, and guidance.
• Provide ethics mentoring and coaching to key staff.
• Assess and report on your organisation’s ethics culture and climate and their impact on your organisation’s ability to meet its strategic objectives.

You the financial adviser or accountant

• Assist you with advice on your legislative and regulatory obligations.
• Manage disputes between you and your clients or with your Australian Financial Services Licensee.
• Support the investigation and remediation of client complaints and claims.
• Provide strategic legal advice on structuring and your representative arrangements.
• Advise and draft documents related to your commercial and third party relationships.
• Represent you in litigation proceedings or regulatory enforcement action.
• Customise workshops, presentations, and training for your practice.
• Provide ethics mentoring and coaching to your key staff.
• Assist you to provide strategic taxation, superannuation or estate planning advice to your clients through referral to our Argyle Family Legal Office.

You the risk and compliance professional

• Review your existing compliance framework, business rules, policy and disclosure documents, and operating manuals.
• Advise on and develop compliance management frameworks and tools.
• Customise workshops, presentations, and training to key staff.
• Review ethics frameworks, systems, and procedures.
• Develop values statements, codes of ethics, codes of conduct, and organisational standards.
• Facilitate or advise at management strategy and business planning sessions.

You the financial planning client

• Advise on the merit of any complaint or claim you may have against your financial adviser or Australian Financial Services Licensee and manage, mediate, or litigate claims and complaints.
• Assist you to bring a claim or complaint to alternative dispute resolution forums such as the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Some tools we offer to achieve your objectives:

A Sale of Business Agreement to ensure you receive the maximum value from your business, that your tax obligations are managed effectively, and that any residual liability is minimised.

Authorised Representative Agreements give both the licensee and the representative certainty in relation to their respective obligations, define responsibilities, and ensure that the arrangement can be terminated in appropriate circumstances.

Employment Agreements ensure that employees' obligations are certain and defined and, where appropriate, impose restraints to protect the business owner.

Referral Agreements facilitate the effective referral of clients to and from identified referral sources, define servicing obligations, ensure that the referral process is managed in accordance with Corporations Act requirements and, where appropriate, impose restraints to protect the respective business owners.

Client Transfer Agreements ensure an orderly and efficient transfer of client servicing and remuneration rights.

Client Engagement Templates enable licensees and representatives to define the terms on which financial services will be provided and articulate a customer value proposition and servicing terms, giving clients certainty and managing expectations and defining liability.

Complaint Templates ensure that client complaints can be effectively managed to protect against reputational and financial damage, and to ensure that client concerns are appropriately dealt with to avoid escalation to alternative dispute resolution or litigation.

Investigations Plans support the proactive investigation of incidents, breaches, and potential breaches to ensure that operational risk issues are managed effectively, that reputational and financial risk is minimised, and that reporting obligations are complied with.

Remediation Plans provide a measurable framework to effectively remediate and rectify incidents and breaches. A comprehensive and effective remedial action plan can assist in the management of regulatory relationships and avoid unnecessary regulatory action.

Compensation Calculations are essential to the effective remediation of client complaints and incidents. An objective assessment of client loss can assist in the settlement process, avoid escalation of complaints and ensure an outcome that is equitable for both the client and the licensee. A comprehensive assessment and calculation methodology can also assist in avoiding regulatory intervention in any remedial process.

Independent Expert Reports provide your board and senior management team with a confidential and objective assessment of matters concerning your business or strategic objectives or associated with regulatory action or litigation.

Ethics Health Check assesses the performance of your current ethics, professional, and compliance frameworks.

Ethics Risk Map enables you to more effectively assess the ethics risks you face in your advisory business.

Ethical Culture Self Assessment Tool enables you to assess whether your organisation has the appropriate systems and procedures in place to embed an effective ethical culture, in accordance with Australian Standards on corporate governance.

Ethical Climate Survey assists you to understand the attitudes and perceptions of your staff to the culture within your organisation and the factors they take into account when making decisions.

Financial Advisory Issues Test measures the ability of your advisers and compliance staff to make effective ethical decisions.