ASIC outlines adviser reference checking protocols
“Rolling bad apples” in the financial planning and credit industries will be the subject of new reference checking protocols being proposed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC has issued a consultation paper outlining its approach and seeking submissions from stakeholders by 29 January ahead of having the new regime in place by 1 October, next year.
ASIC is proposing that licensees will be required as a specific obligation under their licence to comply with the new protocol and to check references and share information about individuals.
“Specifically, a licensee must comply with the obligation in relation to: (a) a former, current or prospective representative of a licensee (e.g. a representative of a licensee that is seeking employment with another licensee as a financial adviser or mortgage broker); and (b) a licensee who is an individual (i.e. a current licensee who is seeking to work for another licensee as a financial adviser or mortgage broker representative),” the ASIC proposal says.
It said the ASIC protocol would apply to a prospective representative where there were reasonable grounds to suspect that, if they were successful in obtaining the job they sought, they would provide: (a) personal advice to retail clients about relevant financial products as a representative of an AFS licensee; or (b) credit assistance in relation to credit contracts secured by mortgages over residential property as a mortgage broker representative of a credit licensee.
Recommended for you
Sharing his reasoning in joining the FSC board, WT Financial chief executive, Keith Cullen, believes “product and advice cannot be separated” from each other in the current environment.
The Emerge Foundation, a charity run by financial advisers and fund managers, has announced a scholarship program to help veterans transition into tertiary education.
In an open letter, Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole has hit out against shareholders “with a personal axe to grind” as he fights for his job ahead of an EGM.
The JAWG has announced it is in talks with Treasury around five “core principles” to strengthen the education standards for new entrants to the financial advice space.
