FASEA consultation process a ‘waste of time’
The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has made virtually no change to its professional year standard, forcing industry bodies to question whether the entire consultation process was a waste of time.
Associate professor at Deakin Business School, Adrian Raftery, said the latest legislative instrument released by the Authority saw nothing more than a few definitions added, raising concerns for the legislative instruments to follow.
“It doesn’t look like anybody’s opinion has been taken on board,” he said. “I’m concerned that a similar lip service is going to be provided for the subsequent legislative instruments that are no doubt going to be tabled in the coming week.”
Raftery said there had been “significant whispers” in the industry that the Authority had already made up its mind, and were treating the consultation process like a “box-ticking exercise”.
He said he was fearful that industry bodies had simply wasted their time preparing submissions over the last few months.
“We’ve probably all wasted hundreds of hours reading the documentation, getting feedback from members and consolidating and summarising our positions,” he said. “It feels like it’s all been wasted time.”
Raftery said the secretive release of documents on FASEA’s website late on Friday nights was indicative of the avenue they would take, and that they had already made their mind up.
AUTHOR
Anastasia Santoreneos
Recommended for you
Ahead of the 1 January 2026 education deadline for advisers, ASIC has issued its ‘final warning’ to the industry, reporting that more than 2,300 relevant providers could be on their way out.
As high-net-worth investors look to opportunities in alternatives, Praemium has revealed that advisers who can deliver on this demand tend to have deeper relationships with their clients as they are seeking more involvement in the investment process.
As adviser-client relationships stabilise, Investment Trends’ latest report said digital hybrid advice models are key to addressing the supply-demand gap in Australia.
A Koda Capital partner and executive team member, who joined the firm from almost a decade in advice roles at AMP, has departed the wealth manager.
