The introduction of the APES 230 ethical standards for accountants will not affect WHK's business model, according to the dealer group's chief risk officer Craig Lake.
The proposed standards have been criticised by Institute of Public Accountants chief executive Andrew Conway for going "beyond the FOFA legislation" when it comes to remuneration for financial planning services.
According to Lake, WHK authorised representatives do not operate in the "dual generalist role" of accountant/financial planner.
"Our strategy has been to have specialists in the accounting area and financial planning area," said Lake.
"We made the decision early on to have specialist planners across the regional firms. I guess we are fortunate that we have the scale in those areas," he added.
However, he acknowledged the problem the APES 230 standards presented in regional areas to individual operators who straddle financial planning, accounting and lending roles.
"We can see the problem it causes, but from our perspective I think we're pretty well positioned to not be interrupted by it. Planners just operate under FOFA rules," said Lake.
"We will see when the dust settles on APES 230 and the new licensing for the accountant's exemption, and then chart our course accordingly," he said.
