The Federal Government has signalled that it has abandoned any moves to significantly alter the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation and that any further changes will be via bi-partisan agreement and that the legislation will then be given time to work.
The Government’s intentions were made clear by the Assistant Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, in an address to the Stockbrokers’ Association on Friday and appear to make clear that the FOFA regulatory changes pursued last year by Finance Minister, Senator Mathias Cormann, and which were disallowed in the Senate are now off the agenda.
The only significant changes now likely to be delivered to FOFA will be bipartisan refinements to the retail/wholesale client definitions under the Corporations Act.
Addressing the Stockbrokers’ conference, Frydenberg said the Government did not intend to “re-litigate past debates” with respect to FOFA.
“However, we are working on a bipartisan basis to progress a handful of technical refinements, which will ensure FOFA operates as intended,” he said.
“While I am not yet in a position to announce our proposed refinements, in respect of the application of the retail/wholesale client test, I am aware of the difficulties posed by the lack of alignment across the Corporations Act. It was never intended that there be different tests across different parts of the Corporations Act.”
“The Government is looking to make time-critical refinements by 1 July 2015. Once this bipartisan effort is settled, FOFA will be given time to work,” Frydenberg said.
