Call to harmonise advice/tax standards

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Treasury and the Tax Practitioners’ Board (TPB) should work together to harmonise the standards imposed on providers of financial product advice and tax services. 

That is the assessment of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) which has used a submission to ASIC to argue that such an outcome should be achieved in the context of ASIC’s recent consultations around proposed enhancements to the training of people who provide financial product advice. 

It argues strongly against the creation of two separate and different sets of rules. 

“We understand that the intention is to retain the current training standard s39  as 'base level’ standards, and introduce two further regimes of training with (proposed) effect from 2015 and 2019,” the submission said. “We note that since the enactment of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, the Tax Practitioners Board (“TBP”) has been developing and implementing a regime for the registration of persons providing tax (financial) services. These services involve the provision of certain 'tax agent services’ by an AFS licensee or representative, in the course of advice usually given by an AFS licensee or representative. We understand that the qualifications and relevant experience requirements for tax (financial) advisers are currently being determined by Treasury. “ 

The submission said that, as a result of the tax agent services regime, an AFS licensee and their representatives might now find themselves subject to regulation by both ASIC and the TPB under discrete sets of obligations - both of which were currently undergoing review or finalisation.  

“Feedback from ASFA members has stressed the need for the outcomes of ASIC’s current review of adviser standards to ensure that any new standards are harmonised with those put in place by the TPB for tax (financial) services and that we avoid the creation of two separate, and different, sets of rules,” it said.