As reported last week in Money Management, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is embarking on a program of compliance checks on advisers in rural areas during November.
ASIC compliance officers will be visiting providers in large regional centres to ensure they are meeting paperwork requirements under the new Financial Services Reform Act, as well as checking that planners are not exceeding their authority in advice giving.
Transparency of fees will also be a strong area of focus during the spot checks.
ASIC executive director of financial services regulation Ian Johnston said the move has been prompted by fears that these advisers may present a greater risk of compliance breaches, by virtue of being out of arm’s reach of their dealer groups.
“Our previous work tells us that there are sometimes compliance issues because they [regional advisers] don’t get the same attention from the dealer groups… and the further out, the higher the risk rate,” Johnston said.
Johnston commented that ASIC will visit both licensees and authorised representatives across industry sectors, including selected financial planners and other product distributors, stockbrokers, insurance agents and brokers, superannuation advisers, and advisers attached to responsible entities and banks.
