provide in-depth references for the following text using harvard style referencing, Provide appropriate legislative references in your answers and assume any announced changes will proceed in full. ---  

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019 (Cth) has significant implications for individual authorised representatives and Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence holders. The main purpose of this legislation is to improve consumer protection in the retail financial sector and ensure that financial products are targeted at the right consumers. The key provisions of the Act impose new design and distribution obligations on product issuers, as well as granting the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) additional powers to intervene in the distribution of potentially harmful products.  

  

1. Design and Distribution Obligations: Under the Act, product issuers, including Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees, must adhere to the following requirements:  

 

a) Develop a Target Market Determination (TMD) for each financial product offered to retail clients, specifying the suitable target audience for which the product is appropriate, as well as any stipulated conditions or limiting restrictions on its distribution.  

 

b) Regularly conduct review evaluations and periodically provide updated revisions of the TMD to ensure its accuracy and relevancy remains current and maintained.  

 

c) Retain records of decisions pertaining to the TMD, including its implementation, development, evaluating review, and updated modification processes. 

 

d) Ensure that products are distributed in compliance with the TMD, assess and monitor the outcomes of product distribution activities, and apply necessary adjustments as required. 

Individual authorised representatives will be responsible for conducting their own assessments and obligated to evaluate the compatibility of whether the financial products are likely to be consistent with both the TMD and the requirements of the retail clients they serve. Consequently this will require them to stay informed about the TMDs for the products they distribute and adjust or refine their practices accordingly as needed.  

  

2. Product Intervention Powers: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is empowered by the Act with product intervention powers in case a financial product or its distribution is suspected to cause detriment as to result in significant consumer harm. ASIC may ban a product, enforce sale limitations, or require issuers to change a product's terms and conditions as part of its intervention measures. 

 

For AFS licence holders and individual authorised representatives to comply with ASIC's product intervention powers, they need to ensure strict monitoring of the products they distribute and be ready to make necessary adjustments. This might involve discontinuing the distribution of a particular product, modifying its features, or changing sales or advertisement marketing practices to comply with the intervention powers. 

 

In essence, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019 entails major changes in the way AFS license holders and individual authorized representatives design, target, and distribute financial products. To comply with the new obligations and avoid regulatory penalties or reputational damage, they must establish and maintain robust compliance frameworks, improve employee training, and augment their record-keeping systems. Such modifications are necessary to achieve compliance and mitigate risks associated with non-compliance.