Newman says dealing with ASIC to develop an acceptable EU revealed the regulator to be “very, very reasonable about the commercial aspects of running the business”.
“They were very fair and they were very easy to deal with,” Newman says.
“It wasn’t as though they would take you into a padded cell and beat you around the head. It was sitting around a table, putting up some suggestions and practically working them through and how they would work out.”
The regulator was politely intractable about how it viewed the obligations and responsibilities of an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) holder.
“It was an enlightening experience going through it,” Newman says.
”A little frustrating in terms of they’re a government agency, so there’s a degree of bureaucracy that goes with it, but hey, that’s just what it is. But the people were great and I thought they were reasonably switched on to the commercial aspects, but were firm in their expectations. The ground rules were pretty clear.”
Newman says WealthSure got a much better result by adopting a collaborative stance rather than being resistant, and it’s an approach he recommends other licensees should take if they’re ever in the same position.
“Engage with the regulator – unless, of course, you’ve knowingly done something wrong. But get on the front foot,” he says.
“Sometimes it provides a bit of a wake-up call. For us it was a serious wake-up call for the business. But I cannot change anything in the past. It’s gone. But I can be the architect for what the future will look like, and the advisers we work with can help with what that’s going to look like, because it’s no one person or one organisation that’s going to shape that.”
Newman says that a process that could have been highly destructive has turned out to be “really exciting”.
“People throw rocks at them; they’re going through a bit of pain at the moment, “ he says
“But they’ve got a role to play, and [you have to] respect that they’re a stakeholder in the business. If you adopt that attitude and you’re doing the right thing, sure, you’re going to have a robust discussion with them, but they’re reasonable people…and you’ll have a better chance of better outcomes.”
