Policies and Procedures
SERVICE ONE Mutual Limited (SERVICE ONE) is a mutually owned unlisted public company limited by shares.
It is governed by a Board of Directors with the day-to-day running of the organisation the responsibility of the Executive management team.
Members elect Directors to the SERVICE ONE Board and vote on matters of importance at Member meetings such as the Annual General Meeting.
The Board has adopted the following key responsibilities:
act in the best interest of SERVICE ONE as a whole
observe their duties as Directors in terms of corporates law, general law, SERVICE ONE’s Constitution and other relevant legislation, and
enhance Member value.
In order to meet these responsibilities, the Board operates within a framework that incorporates several policies.
General Information for Prospective Directors
The Role of the Board
The Board is responsible for setting the strategic direction, establishing effective governance, evaluating performance and assuring financial sustainability for the business.
Directors govern SERVICE ONE on behalf of the Members. All Directors must comply with basic legal requirements under the Corporations Act 2001 which specifies four main duties for Directors with a number of other areas of key responsibility that include a duty to act in good faith and with honesty, act with care and diligence, avoid conflicts of interest, not to abuse a corporate opportunity or misuse information, and not to trade while insolvent. Refer to SERVICE ONE's Governance Policy (Section 2.3 Responsibilities of Directors) for more detail.
At the broadest possible level the Board has two fundamental responsibilities: to ensure compliance and improve performance.
On a day-to-day basis, a Board spends most of its time guiding the organisation in the areas of:
strategy formulation and implementation monitoring
CEO selection/development/mentoring/remuneration/evaluation
control and monitoring of organisational performance, particularly finance
risk management
compliance
policy formulation
networking/building key relationships
communication with stakeholders
crisis control
effective governance, and
reputation management.
The legislative and regulatory framework
Copy: The provision of financial services and products is regulated in Australia by Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). The regulatory framework creates a uniform licensing (Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensing) and disclosure regime for financial services and products. The main regulatory agency covering SERVICE ONE’s operations is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). ASIC is Australia's corporate, markets and financial services regulator and supervises consumer protection in the financial services sector. ASIC is also responsible for registering companies, issuing Australian financial services licenses and monitoring fund raising. SERVICE ONE is an Authorised Representative and Credit Representative of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and is subject to regulatory oversight by ASIC.
Other regulatory agencies include:
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC): The ACCC administers commonwealth competition, fair trading and consumer protection laws. The commission also controls mergers.
Australian Taxation Office (ATO): The ATO is the government's principal revenue collection agency.
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC): AUSTRAC is Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC): The OPC administers the Privacy Act (Cth) and related legislation to protect personal information (including credit information).