Fund Product, Company, and Regulatory Updates as at 13 September 2016

Product
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First truly digital bond trading solution launched
Saxo Capital Markets has launched a digital bond trading solution in the fixed-income trading space. The digital bond trading solution will connect traders with the whole global bond market, with each bond order directed to a dealer auction made up of 40 of the largest bond liquidity providers. Orders are almost always executed within seconds, with great cost savings. 

Company
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Energy Super's new digital advice service live
Energy Super has launched its digital advice service for members who want to get limited advice before seeing an adviser. 

Shareclarity enters Aussie market
ASIC has approved New Zealand firm, Shareclarity, under new fintech fast-track licensing rules. Shareclarity is entering the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) industry and offers investors information about investments independently, valuing metrics on 150 companies in both countries. 

Regulatory
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AFS of The Sharemarket College cancelled
ASIC has cancelled the Australian Financial Services licence (AFSL) of The Sharemarket College for making misleading statements, and has banned its managers, Graeme and Jill Rogers. The company and couple made misleading and deceptive statements, provided more than general advice, and failed to maintain competence, among other breaches. 

Westpac refunds $20m in disclosure breach
Westpac has refunded $20 million in credit card foreign transaction fees to over 800,000 customers after it did not clearly disclose the types of credit card transactions that attract foreign transaction fees. The issue was brought to ASIC's attention after a customer complaint. ASIC has warned that internet transactions may appear to be in Australia, but are not, and therefore many attract foreign currency fees. 

Morgan Stanley $124,000 infringement paid
Morgan Stanley Australia Securities has paid over $100,000 in penalties after being delivered an infringement notice for contravening regulations relating to failures in its money markets reporting. 

ING Bank offering compensation after possibly misleading costs and fees statements
ING Bank has compensated Living Super customers after promotional material was found to be potentially misleading when it came to fees. ASIC was concerned that some Living Super members may be under the impression that they would receive the same returns on cash investments held with ING bank as ING Direct banking customers with the Savings Maximiser product. 

CommSec pays $700,000 in infringements, refunds $1.1m
CommSec has paid penalties for two infringement notices and refunded over $1 million in brokerage to 25,000 clients. CommSec issued 114,800 confirmations to retail clients whose orders were executed at crossings, but which did not contain the required statement that the transactions had involved a crossing.