Regulator slams Macquarie unit

AUSTRALIA’S biggest stockbroking firm, Macquarie Equities, has been forced by the corporate regulator to have an independent investigator oversee its operations after the broker was found to have ”serious compliance deficiencies” over four years. Macquarie Private Wealth, the retail division of investment bank Macquarie Group, has been lambasted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for ”recurring deficiencies” which the corporate regulator claims may have led to Macquarie giving clients inappropriate advice. The regulator is concerned that hundreds of its brokers and advisers failed to keep proper client records – as required under financial services laws – which may have also resulted in some of the firm’s clients not having enough information to make informed decisions.

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, January 30 12013