Changes to professional year requirements
Australian financial services licensees are no longer required to notify the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of a professional year (PY) arrangement between themselves and a new entrant.
Previously, firms were required to notify the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) within 30 days if their firm took on a new entrant.
However, ASIC still needed to be notified if a new financial adviser was granted accelerated progression through Quarter 1 and/or Quarter 2 or when they issued a final completion certificate at the completion of the PY.
There were also changes to exam eligibility with new entrants required to have their eligibility assessed by ASIC before they could book the exam. If they were successful, they would be issued with an exam eligibility number to book the exam.
The eligibility number would then be used to apply through the ASIC Regulatory Portal but had to be done no later than 15 days before the last day of the booking period for an exam.
The next booking periods for 2022 exams were 20 June-12 July for July exams and 23 September-13 October for the November exams.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
A quarter of advisers who commenced on the FAR within the last two years have already switched licensees or practices, adding validity to practice owners’ professional year (PY) concerns.
Integrated wealth and financial services group Rethink has launched a financial planning arm called Rethink Wealth to expand beyond property investing and into holistic wealth management.
While adviser numbers continue to slowly creep back up, the latest Wealth Data analysis reveals they would actually be in the green for the calendar year if it weren’t for so many losses in the limited advice space.
Iress has appointed a chief AI officer to spearhead the fintech’s strategic focus on AI, with chief executive Marcus Price describing how the technology opens the doors to a “new frontier for wealth advice”.
