The consortium of professional associations including the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) will today file a formal application with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to become a Code Monitoring Authority.
What is more the consortium, which was formed in December last year, has begun advertising to staff the new Code Monitoring Authority have placed advertisements for a “chair, deputy chair, plus additional governing body and disciplinary roles”.
FPA chief executive, Dante De Gori confirmed that the formal application would be lodged with ASIC by close of business today – which represented the deadline for such applications.
ASIC will then need to work promptly on that application and any others in circumstances where all existing financial planners and advisers will be required to subscribe to an approved scheme by 15 November.
The six professional associations which agreed to participate in establishing the code monitoring arrangement are: Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), Boutique Financial Planners (BFP), Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), Self Managed Super Fund Association (SMSF Association), and Stockbrokers and Financial Advisers Association (SAFAA).
Importantly, the Code Monitoring Authority, when established, will sit within a corporate structure separate from the associations.
The associations have decided to lodge the application with ASIC notwithstanding some continuing confusion about the position the Government will ultimately adopt because of conflicts between the original outline included in the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) regime and the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Services Technology, Senator Jane Hume is expected to clarify the Government’s position shortly.
