ASIC tells planners what good looks like
Financial planning and the role of financial planners as gate-keepers remains high on the agenda of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), according to the regulator’s corporate plan covering the next five years.
The corporate plan, released on Friday, sought to state what ASIC believes “good looks like” in the financial planning sector and listed circumstances where financial advisers:
- Act professionally, treat consumers fairly and prioritise consumers’ interests;
- Provide accessible, strategic financial advice that is aligned with consumer needs and delivers value for money; and
- Ensure that consumers are fully compensated when losses result from poor conduct.
Among the key risks outlined by the regulator for the period were:
- Poor culture and conduct in financial services and credit resulting in poor outcomes for investors and consumers;
- Poor culture and conduct in markets undermining market integrity;
- Financial vulnerability of consumers at key decision points;
- Misalignment of retail product design and distribution with consumer needs;
- Digital disruption;
- Inadequate risk management of technological change, including cyber threats; and
- Cross-border businesses, services and transactions in an uncertain environment.
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.