Banking & Finance Update, September 2006

The Regulatory Advisory and Compliance Group (the RAC Group) is the new name for gadens lawyers compliance team.

The Regulatory Advisory and Compliance Group (the RAC Group) is the new name for gadens lawyers compliance team.

Australia's leading advice team for the mortgage industry is completely unable to solve one fundamental problem; how to make regulation and compliance sound like the incredibly interesting and rewarding field it is. Instead it sounds like a group of backroom boffins.

The fact that the gadens lawyers team works daily with gadens lawyers' large corporate, commercial and residential documentation teams ensures boffins they are not. This unique connection ensures practical, industry leading solutions designed to facilitate transactions and avoid unnecessary "clutter".

"Our acronym – the RAC Group even sounds like torture" says Jon Denovan the Sydney team leader. "In fact it's great fun, and a great challenge to provide cost effective solutions to the gamut of regulation issues" claims Denovan. The group's services include:

• UCCC compliance

• documents and procedures for retail, commercial, and corporate lenders, with ongoing management and on line audit trails

• outsourcing agreements including management and broking distribution agreements

• anti-money laundering and counter terrorism laws and procedures

• risk management advice, including anti-fraud strategies

• FSR advice including:

• obtaining or varying licences

• compliance advice

• financial services guides (FSG), product disclosure statements (PDS), information

• memorandums, and prospectuses.

• managed investment schemes

• joint venture agreements

• alliance agreements

• GST on financial supply businesses

• trade practices advice including review of advertisements, trade promotions (lotteries etc), third line forcing

• sales of financial services businesses

• compliance training.

The team provides "hot desk" solutions for many leading banks, lenders, and intermediaries.

Cost, speed, practically, and accuracy are essential in everything the group does. The teams' client list is rapidly expanding and reads like a who's who of the mortgage industry.

Current big projects include the AML/CTF proposals, WA finance broking licensing changes, new and novel mortgage programs. Also a number of managed investments schemes are being put together as businesses try to tap the huge amount of cash in the economy.

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