Welcome to the Eleventh edition of theMelbourne Chapter’s newsletter

By now everyone would have returnedfrom their holidays refreshed to start theNew Year with full vigor.

The floods in Queensland have had impacton a lot of people. The death toll oflivestock has led to the devastation of thecattle industry in the region. Businesseshave suffered and it will take them time torecover.

All of this brings into perspective thecontinuity plans not only for business asdiscussed in the Dynamic CFO seriespresentation but also for Individuals.

The financial services industry has alsobeen rocked by the findings andrecommendations of the Royal BankingCommission. The recommendations willhave lasting effects on the MortgageBroking industry. CA Archna Bansalexplores what it means for the MortgageBroking Industry and their customers inher article in this newsletter.CA PankajDamle has kindly shared information onhis session “Grow your Business usingFREE & Paid Tools

The committee is looking for Volunteersto help with updating websites and forEditorial help with the newsletter. Ifinterested, please register your interest atnewsletter@icai.melbourne orchairman@icai.melbourne

Editor Writes

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter 1

This month, the CPD session was held on16th February,2019 at the Community Hubat the Docks, Multipurpose room, 912Collins Street, Docklands, VIC 3008. Thetopics are:“Revitalize- Refreshing perspectives onpresentation skills and managing stress”by Fahad Farook CMA and

“ Mindfulness bliss with corporate lifestylechallenges “ by CA Kara Sandhu.

The session was well attended and wasvery interactive and provided a lot ofvalue. Presentation techniques werediscussed in a fun way and practical stressrelieving techniques were presented.

We are very appreciative of our membersCA Jaydeep Mawani, CA Mohan S.K, CAVinod Kapadia and Chairman AnandAgarwal for posting the job vacancieswhich arise in their organisation in ourgroup. The number of vacanciesadvertised bring the value of networkingto the fore.

Please email your feedback/ suggestionsto newsletter@icai.melbourne so that wecan address your issues.

We look forward to seeing you at the CPDsessions. Thank you once again for yourcontinued support.

- CA Anbu Mohan

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter

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Photos from the CPD session in Jan 2019 and Feb 2019

CA Anbu Mohan conducting the CPD session on the Dynamic CFO series - CFO as a Corporate strategist on 19th January, 2019 at the Community Hub at the Docks,912 Collins Street, Docklands

CA Pankaj Damle conducting the CPD session on India Investment Overview on the 19th January, 2019 at the Community Hub at the Docks, 912 Collins Street, Docklands

“Revitalize- Refreshing perspectives on presentation skills and managing stress workshop” by Fahad Farook CMA

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter

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Photos from the CPD session in Jan 2019 and Feb 2019

“ Mindfulness bliss with corporate lifestyle challenges “ by CA Kara Sandhu.

Presentation of momento to Mr. Fahad Farook

At the Feb 19 CPD session

Presentation of momento to CA Kara Sandhu

Dear Professional Colleagues,

Quotes motivate and inspire us to keep moving forward. Here are a few thought-provoking quotes on networking:

“Everything you want in life is a relationship away.”― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

““Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.”― Michele Jennae

“We all have knowledge, skills, experience, and unique perspectives to contribute. Sharing these things extends the circles of context for connecting among our networks and gives us opportunities to deep our relationships with others.”― Michelle Tillis Lederman, CSP

QUOTES

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter4

MANAGING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Position Member

Chairman CA Anand Agarwal

Vice Chairman CA Harsha Vardhan Singh

Secretary CA Pankaj Damle

Treasurer CA Foram Seth

Public Officer CA Prity Sarda

Committee member CA Sameer Manduskar

Committee member CA Anbu Mohan

Committee member CA Kumar Somya

Committee member CA Anirudh Misra

Committee member CA Ambuj Goel

PAYMENT OF MEMBERSHIP FEES

Membership fees for 2018-19 are now overdue and renewal letter has been sent.To renew your membership fee, please click on the below link and pay your due as per renewal :https://zohosecurepay.com/checkout/bnxmgvb-d4qxa5rd0z8ac/Renewal-of-Annual-Membership-Fees

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter5

Month Date

February 19 16th Feb 2019

March 19 16th Mar 2019

April 19 20th Apr 2019

May 19 18th May 2019

June 19 15th Jun 2019

July 19 20th Jul 2019

CPD sessions will take place at the Multipurpose room, Docklands Community HUB, Melbourne onthe 3rd Saturday of every month. Please mark your calendar with the dates below to takeadvantage of your CPD requirements. Speakers will be announced closer to the dates

Volunteers required

Require volunteers to help with updating the Melbourne Chapters website. We are looking for anyone who has a passion for web development and the ability to keep the website updated on a regular basis. Interested persons please contact newsletter@icai.melbourne or chairman@icai.melbourne

Require volunteers to help with the newsletter. We are looking for anyone who has a passion for writing and editing articles being written for our monthly newsletter. Also looking for persons who can be creative with photographs. Interested persons please contact newsletter@icai.melbourne or chairman@icai.melbourne

CA Archna Bansal explores the effects of the recommendations of the Banking Royal commission on the Mortgage Broking industry. Serious questions about whether the consumer or the Big 4 Banks will be the ultimate beneficiary arise.

Given below is the extract of recommendations for the Mortgage broking sector made by the Royal Banking Commission and their response by the Government of Australia

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter6

Royal commission and impact on Mortgage broking industry

Recommendation 1.1 — The NCCP Act

The NCCP Act should not be amended to alter the

obligation to assess unsuitability.

The Government agrees to this recommendation and the

Commissioner’s findings that ‘not unsuitable’ remains the

appropriate standard for responsible lending obligations

within the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009

(NCCP Act).

Recommendation 1.2 — Best interests duty

The law should be amended to provide that, when

acting in connection with home lending, mortgage

brokers must act in the best interests of the

intending borrower. The obligation should be a

civil penalty provision.

The Government agrees to introduce a best interests duty for

mortgage brokers to act in the best interests of borrowers.

The best interests duty will not change the responsible lending

obligations for broker originated loans, consistent with the

Government’s response to Recommendation 1.1 above.

The Government also agrees that a breach of the best interests

duty should be subject to a civil penalty.

The Government agrees, following the implementation of the

best interests duty, to further align the regulatory frameworks

for mortgage brokers and financial advisers.

This also responds to the Productivity Commission’s report

Competition in the Australian Financial System, which also

recommended imposing a best interests duty on mortgage

brokers and a review of the feasibility of enabling financial

advisers to also act as mortgage brokers.

Recommendation 1.3 — Mortgage broker

remuneration

The borrower, not the lender, should pay the

mortgage broker a fee for acting in connection with

home lending.

Changes in brokers’ remuneration should be made

over a period of two or three years, by first

prohibiting lenders from paying trail commission to

mortgage brokers in respect of new loans, then

prohibiting lenders from paying other commissions

to mortgage brokers.

The Government agrees to address conflicted remuneration

for mortgage brokers. The Government recognises the

importance of competition in the home lending sector and

will proceed carefully and in stages, consistent with the

recommendation, with reforms to ensure that the changes do

not adversely impact consumers’ access to lenders and

competition in the home lending market.

From 1 July 2020, the Government will prohibit for new loans

the payment of trail commissions from lenders to mortgage

brokers and aggregators. From that date, the Government will

also require that the value of upfront commissions be linked

to the amount drawn-down by borrowers and not the loan

amount, and ban campaign and volume-based commissions

and payments. The Government will additionally limit to two

years the period over which commissions can be clawed back

from aggregators and brokers and prohibit the cost of

clawbacks being passed on to consumers.

.

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter7

Royal commission and impact on Mortgage broking industry (Contd.)

Recommendation 1.3 — Mortgage broker

remuneration (contd.)

.

The Government will also ask the Council of Financial

Regulators, along with the Australian Competition and

Consumer Commission (ACCC), to review in three years’ time

the impact of the above changes and implications for consumer

outcomes and competition of moving to a borrower pays

remuneration structure for mortgage broking, as recommended

by the Royal Commission, and any associated changes that

should be made to non-broker facilitated loans.

This also responds to recommendations of the Productivity

Commission’s report Competition in the Australian Financial

System dealing with the remuneration of mortgage brokers.

Research shows that customers value the service that a mortgage broker provides, with this industry now accounting for almost 60% of all home loans written. Changes to broker pay is likely to have significant negative repercussions for the industry and will ultimately hurt borrowers.

Mortgage Brokers bring a broader product choice to customers and thus leads to more competition in the lending market. The Fall out of mortgage broker will lead to less choice, reduced competition in the lending market making the 4 major banks more powerful. This will ultimately result in tightened access to credit.

What would be the repercussions If we start treating mortgage brokers like serious financial advisers and demanding they only take pay from customers rather than banks?

One theory is that punters will cut out the middleman and go straight to the bank for a loan. But while a mortgage broker has a limited range of loans on offer, a bank has even fewer. It only shows its own loans. And while the argument that the mortgage broker’s behavior was distorted by commissions may hold true in a few cases, the same would hold true of the bank’s owns salespeople too.

If people cut out the broker, banks will save on commissions but they will have to hire more staff to deal with loan applicants. The cost of those staff will be built into the loans.Will there be any real saving in the end for borrowers? It seems unlikely.Higher interest rates are expected to be the outcomes for consumers, who will find it harder and more expensive to secure a home loan. A change to mortgage broking practices could eventually affect the housing market considerably…

Resimac chief executive Scott McWilliam said that mortgage brokers are an essential component of the ecosystem of the mortgage industry. He says, “Brokers provide consumers with access to loans from the big banks as well as smaller lenders without a branch network and accordingly stimulate competition within the lending market,” he said. “The health of the broking sector is vital in achieving the best outcomes for home loan borrowers.”.

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The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter

NEWSThe new office bearers of the ICAI Election held in December 2018 have been declared.Brief profile of the New President and Vice President as in the ICAI website is given below:

To conclude there are difference in opinions relating to value addition done by mortgage broking industry and all pros and cons should be properly evaluated before implementing any recommendation.A very challenging time ahead for industry indeed and I hope changes will bring a better future for consumers and providers both

CA Archna Bansal is the owner of B Savy Financial services which specializes in Business loans and Mortgage solutions.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Melbourne Chapter of ICAI

Royal commission and impact on Mortgage broking industry (Contd.)

A crusader of inclusive growth in accountancy profession, CA. Prafulla P. Chhajed has been elected as President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on February 12, 2019 for the term 2019-20. He is 67th President of the Institute.

With commendable professional acumen and standing, at present, he is the Chairman of Board of Directors of ICAI-ARF (Accounting Research Foundation) and XBRL India. He is also one of the Directors of Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI, which incidentally is the first Insolvency Professionals Agency (IPA) of India. He is also on the Boards of various other reputed companies/ corporate and banks.

Coming from the industrial capital of India, i.e. Mumbai, CA. Prafulla Chhajedhas a very well-defined vision and mission, which is to pursue the agenda of inclusive growth and take the Institute and accountancy profession of India to greater heights so that its members could stand tall and strong before the accountancy fraternity of the world.

In the last 16 years, CA. Prafulla P. Chhajed has contributed more than 600 articles and write-ups on Taxation and Investments in the well-known Marathi daily- Maharashtra Times.

CA. Atul Kumar Gupta is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, besides a Law Graduate. Hailing from Delhi, he is also member of various other professional bodies and Institutions. CA. Atul Gupta is a thorough scholar and has qualified CA examination with All India Rank.

An altruistic hard-worker bestowed with exceptional organisational, networking, administrative and leadership skills, at present, he is serving as Director of Accounting Research Foundation (ARF) of ICAI for promoting research in field of Accounting and XBRL India and is Member of more than 15 Committees of ICAI. He is also a Member of Advisory committee for GST in GSTN Board (Government of India IT Initiative for implementation of GST in India) and Member of Finance Committee of Delhi Management Association.

CA. Atul Gupta has authored several books & his articles have also been published in leading newspapers and various professional magazines across the country.

This is a brief synopsis of the presentation “Grow your Business using FREE & Paid Tools” done by me on the 20th October 2018 CPD session for the benefit of members who could not attend and to provide the tools information and links.

During the CPD couple of business, case studies were presented in an interactive manner and the tools available discussed.

●Food distributor wants to be present in multiple stores and sell more products -Product (Indian Foods Wholesaler)

●Electricals business wants to acquire bigger clients for electrification work Service (Electricals Services)

Objective: Identify the most suitable tools for both the businesses

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Grow your Business using FREE & Paid Tools

Business Basics in use Food Business Electrical Business

Website e-commerce, Shopify

Use wordpress & Domain hosting

www.Wix.com ($8 / month)

Use wordpress & Domain hosting

Recommended platform https://www.siteground.com/go/sumarth https://www.siteground.com/go/sumarth

Email Id G Suite ($5/month) G Suite ($5/month)

Phone number www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/au (PAYG) www.twilio.com/voice/pricing/au (PAYG)

Marketing and Sales

Marketplace Google for Retail; Google Ads HiPages

Social Media Facebook, Instagram LinkedIn

Automation https://Buffer.com https://Buffer.com

https://betterproposals.io/ ($19/month)

Branding

Business Info Google my business

Graphic designs Canva

Videos UseLoom

FREE Photos Unsplash

Finance and Accounting (CRM, Invoicing, Accounting, Inventory Management, Quotation)

●Zoho ● QuickBooks ● Xero

Process Management Checklist and QA: Process.st

Communication Text: Email & Whatsapp

Video: Skype

Video Conference: Google Meet

Text for Team: Slack

Walkie Talkie: Voxer

Customer Engagement /

Management

CRM: Pipedrive, Zoho CRM

Newsletters: MailChimp

Support Tickets: Freshdesk

Recruitment Job Postings: Seek, Indeed

Candidate Tracking: Zoho Recruit

Remote Freelancer: Fiverr, Upwork

Project / Event

Management

Asana, Trello, Zoho Backstage

Productivity Tools Password Management: LastPass / Kaspersky password manager

Lead Analytics: LinkedIn Sales Navigator - Chrome Extension

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Website

The Melbourne Chapter of ICAI Feb 2019 Newsletter

Grow your Business using FREE & Paid Tools

How to decide which tools?● Identify the Objectives for the tools● See whether the users are comfortable with it● Plan for educating the users● Rollout slowly● Have a very clear transition to new tools

FREE vs. PAID● Always go with the most suitable Paid tool● You can use the free tool at a testing stage and getting demo use.● Paid tools tend to come with vendor support.● Avoid any legal issues for business use.● Licensed usage.

CA Pankaj Damle

CA Pankaj Damle is the owner of Sumarth services Pty Ltd formed to provide finance, accounting and book keeping services.The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Melbourne Chapter of ICAI