Tamanna Islam

Tamanna advises on financial services regulation and wealth management. Tamanna’s particular focus areas include financial advice and distribution, superannuation, platforms, life and general insurance, and regulatory strategy on ASIC and APRA investigations and engagement.

Tamanna regularly advises clients on trustee governance, licensee and conduct obligations, conflicted remuneration, legacy and rationalisation issues, prudential regulation, regulatory investigations, and M&A transactions in the financial services sector. She is regarded by her clients as ‘efficient, thorough, considered and clear in her approach’ and ‘exceptional in terms of response time and quality of advice’. Tamanna’s expertise is recognised by clients and peers in the Legal500 Guide, where she is listed as a Rising Star in the Financial Services Regulatory industry for 2021 and the Insurance industry for 2022.

Tamanna has undertaken secondments to the BT Financial Group and the Suncorp Group.

Tamanna’s key recent experience includes advising:
 

• TAL Dai-ichi on its $900 million acquisition of Westpac's life insurance unit, Westpac Life Insurance Services, including negotiation of a 20 year strategic distribution agreement for life insurance
• a number of superannuation trustees on APRA investigations and engagement relating to alleged MySuper non-compliance, related party arrangements and trustee governance
• a range of industry players such as Challenger, Suncorp, TAL, HCF Life, MetLife, RAC Insurance and Allianz Retire+ on the implementation of key reforms such as anti-hawking, deferred sales for add-on insurance, DDO, unfair contract terms in insurance and claims handling as a financial service
• Westpac on its wealth restructure, including the sale of part of its financial planning business to Viridian Advisory and negotiation of a client referral arrangement, and the restructure of its superannuation, investments and insurance businesses
• Colonial First State, Perpetual, BT Financial Group, Suncorp and a range of superannuation trustees on product rationalisation and successor fund transfers
• BT Financial Group and Netwealth on the deduction of advice fees from superannuation
• CBA on the ASIC investigation relating to the distinction between general and personal advice in the distribution of MySuper products via bank channels
• Westpac, CBA and TAL on the amalgamation of life insurance companies via a scheme under Part 9 of the Life Act
• HCF Life on the development of its innovative injury insurance product known as Flip Insurance

Background

Tamanna holds a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and International Relations) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of New South Wales.