ASIC has power on planner education: Cormann

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has the power to lift minimum educational standards for financial planners if it sees fit, according to the Minister for Finance and Acting Minister for Financial Services, Senator Mathias Cormann.

Cormann made the statement while being interviewed on Sydney commercial radio while defending the Government's regulatory changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation and amid claims that people could call themselves financial planners after doing little more than a four-day course.

Responding to questioning, Cormann said that while the Government was in favour of lifting educational qualifications for financial planners and a national register, ASIC also had powers.

"ASIC actually has got the responsibility to set the minimum educational standards," he said. "So if ASIC is of that view they have the power to make relevant judgements."

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"We are progressing what needs to be done here, including work to lift professional, ethical and educational standards," Cormann said. "One key initiative that we are currently bedding down is the establishment of an enhanced public register of financial advisers."

"So that if you are an investor that wants to seek financial advice, you can check that financial adviser out on that register, you can see what his qualifications are, you can see what his history in the industry is, you can see who he works for whether he works for a bank or whether he is employed for himself and all of these sorts of things. So as a consumer, you are empowered to make more informed decisions," the minister said.