Success Story
Credit Law Reform
Industry Implications
The financial services sector will be the subject of a range of legislative reform over the next two years. The current economic conditions have added pressure to the introduction of these reforms to ensure that they are done quickly and with a minimum disruption to business activities.
DibbsBarker identified the need to put our clients in the financial services sector into a position where they understood the nature of the changes and what impact they will have on their business.
In order to do so, the national financial services team approached our clients and volunteered to provide in-house seminars during November and December 2008 to discuss with them their understanding of the legislation, how it would impact their business and what they needed to do as a result of the incoming changes.
Issues for Our Clients
The agenda for the reforms provided for a rapid introduction of the changes, particularly in relation to consumer credit reform, with the first change of legislation due to be implemented in mid 2009.
In addition there are a number of changes, in particular, in relation to Personal Property Securities Legislation (PPS) which saw a fundamental shift in the way in which credit providers secure their lending and protect their secured assets.
As these reforms would have a direct impact on the business operations of our clients in the financial services sector, we saw the need to educate and inform our clients quickly and advise them of the changes they need to make to their business practices.
We predicted the need for organisations affected by the reform to understand:
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when the changes will come into effect;
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how the changes will affect their interaction with customers;
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the changes to policies, procedures and documentation;
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the training and systems which will need to be introduced to comply with the legislation; and
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how to secure and protect their interests.
Objectives of the Seminar
The aim of the credit law seminars was to visit clients at their premises and hold round table discussions wherein various members of the financial services team could inform clients about the proposed changes and then discuss on an informal basis how those changes would come into effect.
The nature of the round table discussions also allowed a free flow of information and allowed clients to identify particular areas of interest which they wanted to discuss and which they needed clarification on or further explanation.
The objective of the seminars was to, not only provide awareness and education, but also enable clients to plan their training and budget requirements for the next two years so that their staff are fully aware of and compliant with the various pieces of legislation.
The Seminars
Presentations were made by partners and lawyers from the Sydney and Brisbane offices to the following clients at their offices:
Each of the presenters involved in the seminars had long standing relationships with the client and a thorough understanding of their business needs and operations.
As a result, each of the seminars was able to be targeted to the particular areas of need which the clients have and we could provide a practical and specific approach to their needs.
The credit law seminar rollouts was the first stage in this process and provided an interactive forum for the awareness of the legislation. The seminars were reinforced with written presentations provided in hard copy and soft copy.
Stage 2 of the rollout is the ongoing alerts and information through the Finance & Markets Updates and a series of targeted seminars in 2009 once the legislation is released and implementation required.
Results & Benefits
The benefits of the seminars as expressed to us by clients were:
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raising their awareness of the reforms;
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giving them the opportunity to discuss with us directly the impact on their business and focusing on their particular areas of concern;
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enabling them to plan their budgets for training, legal and marketing over the next two years to incorporate changes required as a result of the legislation;
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the ability to provide ongoing training seminars after the legislation was introduced gave them an ongoing level of support; and
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the seminars also provided a timetable for implementation to assist with their planning processes.
Client Testimonial
Shauna Wong, Counsel, American Express Australia Limited
“Many thanks David, Emma and Justin. The AMEX legal and compliance teams found your presentation informative and useful. We appreciate your time today in coming to our offices and presenting to us”.
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