Almost 500 AFS licensees received communication from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) earlier this year to update their ceased advisers on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR).
In its annual report, ASIC said it commenced its Financial Advisers Register Review project to ensure the register was accurate and reflected the correct status of advisers who had not yet passed the exam.
If they had not passed and did not qualify for an extension, they were prohibited from providing personal advice to retail clients.
In light of this, the regulator said it wrote to 491 AFS licensees to update 793 advisers’ records to reflect a ceased authorisation on the Financial Advisers Register.
“As part of the project in this financial year, ASIC wrote to 491 AFS licensees to update 793 advisers’ records to reflect a ceased authorisation status on the Financial Advisers Register or provide proof of their having passed the financial adviser exam, or their eligibility for the exam extension.
“As at 30 June 2022, 432 AFS licensees had updated the Financial Advisers Register to change the authorisation status of 696 advisers to ‘ceased’ after receiving correspondence from ASIC.”
