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Terms of Reference
On 8 December 2004, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services resolved to inquire into the regulation of property investment advice by the Commonwealth, with reference to:
- the effectiveness of current regulation (including the Trade Practices Act 1974, the ASIC Act and the Corporations Act 2001) of the property investment advice industry in protecting consumers;
- allegations that property investment advisers engage in behaviour including:
- characterisation of their activities (for instance, as "education seminars") in order to avoid regulation;
- habitual use of high pressure selling techniques in order to induce investment decisions;
- failure to disclose interests they may have in properties they are selling;
- failure to disclose commissions and fees associated with their services; and
- failure to provide appropriate disclosure of downside risk associated with the property or financial products they recommend;
- whether it is appropriate for property investment advisers to simultaneously sell an interest in property and financial products enabling such purchases;
- advantages and disadvantages of possible models for reform of the property investment advice industry including:
- national coverage through uniform state and territory legislation;
- Commonwealth legislation; and
- a scheme of self-regulation of property investment advisers on a national basis; and
- whether current legal processes provide effective and easily accessible remedies to consumers in dispute with property investment advisers.
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