The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is not exactly being knocked down by the rush of planners seeking to participate in the new licensing arrangements replacing the accountants' exemption.
ASIC deputy chairman, Peter Kell said that while there had been estimates that as many as 10,000 accountants would look to participate in the new licensing regime, barely a tenth of this number had so far shown any interest.
Speaking on a panel during the SMSF Association annual conference in Melbourne, Kell said that, thus far, the regulator had received only 105 applications of which only 44 had been approved.
Signalling that some of the applications had been deficient, he said that a number had been returned so that the deficiencies could be addressed.
