Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (67 of 2024)

Schedule 1   Delivering better financial outcomes - reducing red tape

Part 5   Insurance commissions

Corporations Act 2001

96   After section 963BA

Insert:

963BB Informed consent for certain insurance commissions

(1) If a financial services licensee or a representative of a financial services licensee provides, or is likely to provide, personal advice to a retail client in relation to a financial product (the relevant product ) that is a general insurance product, a life risk insurance product, or consumer credit insurance, paragraphs 963B(1)(a), (b) and (ba) do not apply to a monetary benefit given in connection with the issue or sale of the relevant product to the client unless:

(b) before the issue or sale of the relevant product, the client consented to the monetary benefit being given; and

(c) before the consent was given, the following information was disclosed to the client:

(i) the name of the insurer under the relevant product (if known);

(ii) for a general insurance product - the rate of the monetary benefit, expressed as a percentage range of the policy cost for the product;

(iii) for a life risk insurance product or consumer credit insurance - the rate of the monetary benefit, expressed as a percentage of the policy cost payable for the product;

(iv) if more than one monetary benefit will be given in connection with the issue or sale of the relevant product - the frequency of giving those monetary benefits and the period over which monetary benefits covered by the consent could be given, including any renewals; and

(v) the nature of any services that the financial services licensee or representative will provide the client (if any) in relation to the relevant product; and

(vi) a statement that it is a requirement of the law that client consent must be obtained before the payment of an insurance commission;

(vii) the fact that the consent is irrevocable; and

(d) the licensee or representative has:

(i) the client's written consent or a copy of the client's written consent; or

(ii) if the consent was not obtained in writing - a written record of the client's consent; and

(e) the licensee or representative gives a copy of the written consent, or a copy of the record of the consent, to the client as soon as reasonably practicable after the consent is obtained.

(2) To avoid doubt:

(a) if information meeting the requirements of paragraph (1)(c) has already been disclosed to the client, that paragraph does not require the information to be disclosed again; and

(b) a consent to a particular rate or frequency of a monetary benefit given for the purposes of subsection (1) is taken to also be a consent to a rate or frequency that is less than that disclosed to the client before that consent was given, as mentioned in subparagraph (1)(c)(ii), (iii) or (iv).

Renewals of general insurance products

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), a consent (the original consent ) to a monetary benefit given in connection with the issue or sale to a retail client of a general insurance product is taken to also be a consent to a monetary benefit (a renewal benefit ) being given in connection with a renewal of that product if:

(a) the information disclosed to the client before the original consent was given included the fact that the original consent would cover renewals of the general insurance product; and

(b) the rate of the renewal benefit is equal to or less than that disclosed to the client before the original consent was given, as mentioned in subparagraph (1)(c)(ii).

Transfer of financial product advice business

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1), a consent to a monetary benefit being given to a financial services licensee (the original recipient ) or a representative of a financial services licensee (also the original recipient ) is taken to also be a consent to the monetary benefit being given to another person (the new recipient ) if:

(a) the original recipient's financial product advice business is wholly or partly sold or transferred to:

(i) another financial services licensee; or

(ii) a representative of another financial services licensee; or

(iii) another representative of the financial services licensee that is the original recipient; and

(b) the new recipient is:

(i) if subparagraph (a)(i) applies - that other licensee; or

(ii) if subparagraph (a)(ii) applies - that representative of another licensee; or

(iii) if subparagraph (a)(iii) applies - that other representative of the licensee that is the original recipient.

Variation of consent

(5) If a client has given a consent for the purposes of subsection (1), the financial services licensee or representative may:

(a) disclose to the client proposed variations to one or more of the matters mentioned in subparagraphs (1)(c)(i) to (v); and

(b) request the client to consent to those variations.

(6) If:

(a) the client consents to those variations; and

(b) paragraphs (1)(d) and (e) are satisfied in relation to that variation;

then the consent has effect as varied for the purposes of this section.