Adviser ASIC registration should be own responsibility
Financial adviser and tax financial adviser registration to the corporate regulator should be the responsibility of the individual rather than the licensees, the SMSF Association believes.
It said, if the responsibility was on the adviser, it made clear these declarations were a statutory obligation and not a requirement of the licensee.
SMSF Association chief executive, John Maroney, said: “For advisers, the lines between licensee policies and the law often become blurred”.
He also noted that urgent consideration was needed for advisers who registered as tax financial advisers based on specific experience with approved professional body memberships.
“Given the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority [FASEA] education standards must be completed by 1 January, 2026, transitional measures will be required to ensure these advisers can renew their registrations after 1 January, 2022, and continue to provide these services,” he said.
The association said it welcomed the establishment of the single advice disciplinary proposal as it would remove the complexity around multiple registration, regulatory bodies, and codes.
“It is an important step in raising standards, providing consistency and simplification with the use a single body – the Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) within ASIC. Its role is to monitor, review and where necessary discipline the sector,” Maroney said.
“Over time, the FSCP and associated processes will provide greater consumer protection and, in turn, instil a greater level of confidence in the system’s integrity.
“We urge the Government to reshape some of the proposed measures, using them as the essential first steps towards broader regulatory reform for the advice sector. Doing so will align the financial advice sector with other professions – the broader policy objective.”
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