Education providers swamped with accountant questions
Education providers have been inundated with enquiries from accountants, who are rushing to attain qualifications in order to be ready for the new licensing regimes, following the accountants' exemption on 1 July.
Such was the observation by Premium Wealth Management chief executive, Paul Harding-Davis, who had noticed an uptick in education and general awareness by accountants as they contemplated what qualifications they would require to practise under the new regime and how they would implement things in their practice.
The comments came even as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also noticed a late upswing in application submissions since issuing a soft deadline of March 1.
Harding-Davis said he expected a sudden spike in the number of accountants applying for limited licenses or opting for the authorised representative route, given the corporate regulator's soft deadline of 1 March to submit their applications, and said the education piece was symptomatic of this.
"We're seeing that in the numbers of enquiries and indeed engagements for people who have chosen us to be their licensee," Harding-Davis said.
"We only see the people who have decided to become limited authorised representatives of licences, which are the majority of them of course."
Harding-Davis was also receiving questions around what educational qualifications accountants would need, whether their current qualifications sufficed, how they would have to bill for their services, and how their processes would change given they would have to come under the "purview" of a financial services licensee.
"Not to mention the fact that they're coming under the Corporations Act," he said.
ASIC had approved 162 applications, while 319 applications were currently under assessment and 194 applications were withdrawn by applicants after receiving feedback by ASIC.
ASIC noted the following deficiencies in the 194 applications that were withdrawn:
- False and misleading statements and non-declaration of sanctions handed down by professional membership bodies;
- A lack of understanding of ASIC's criteria for proof of evidence supporting documentation;
- Insufficient, outdated, incomplete, or deficient financial product training;
- Inadequate professional indemnity insurance; and
- Problems with "unusual structures and finances" (i.e. the use of trusts and artificial financial arrangements).
ASIC published a "soft deadline" to warn applicants that it would not be able to assess and approve the applications submitted after 1 March by the 30 June deadline.
"ASIC will continue to receive applications up to the 1 July deadline, however, accountants are reminded that they will not be able to provide SMSF advice or operate the SMSF part of the business until their licence is approved or a statutory exemption applies," an ASIC spokesperson said.
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