ASIC issues guidance for licensees on experience pathway

To access the experienced pathway, financial advisers need to make a written declaration and give a copy to their authorising AFS licensee, according to ASIC’s latest guidance.

The corporate regulator has released guidance on the experienced provider pathway for financial advisers.

The information published on 22 May within Information Sheet 281 FAQS: Relevant providers – Accessing the experienced provider pathway details the steps financial advisers and their Australian financial services (AFS) licensees need to take to access the experienced provider pathway following legislative changes last year.

The experienced provider pathway allows financial advisers with at least 10 years of experience between 2007 and 2021 to meet qualification standards without further education. They must also have a clean disciplinary record as of 31 December 2021.

To be eligible to access the pathway, a financial adviser should also have passed the financial adviser exam by 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 if they were eligible for the exam extension.

ASIC’s guidance clarifies that to access the pathway, financial advisers need to make a written declaration and give a copy to their authorising AFS licensee(s).

“Existing providers who seek to rely on the pathway need to make a declaration and provide it to their licensee before 1 January 2026 so they can continue to provide personal advice from that date,” the regulator explained.

How the experienced provider gives their declaration to their authorising AFS licensee(s) is a matter for the experienced provider and the AFS licensee(s) to determine, the regulator clarified, adding that there is “no prescribed method” for how a declaration must be given.

If the experienced provider is authorised by multiple AFS licensees, or moves to another AFS licensee, ASIC said they must give a copy of their declaration to each authorising AFS licensee.

“We suggest that an experienced provider retain a copy of their declaration for these purposes. A new declaration may be required where, for example, an experienced provider’s new authorising licensee requires declarations by the relevant providers they authorise to be in a particular form,” the regulator said.

According to the regulator, financial advisers who are eligible to access the experienced provider pathway have been able to make a declaration since 21 September 2023.

As for their licensees, they will be required to notify ASIC using ASIC Connect within 30 days starting 1 July if they receive a declaration from a financial adviser eligible for the experienced provider pathway. This includes declarations received before this date.

What does a declaration need to contain?

According to ASIC, a declaration must:

• Include a confirmation that the person meets the definition of “experienced provider” in section 1684 of the Corporations Act (see Question 1), and
• Be made in writing.

An example of a declaration could be a document or an email containing the following words:
“I, [Person’s full legal name], confirm on this day [Date of making declaration], that I meet the definition of experienced provider in section 1684 of the Corporations Act 2001.”

Note: This is an example only. The form of a written declaration is a matter for the experienced provider and their authorising AFS licensee(s) to determine.