FASEA should draw line between accountants and advisers: AccountantsIQ

AccountantsIQ founder, Bronny Speed, has accused the Financial Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) of not comparing apples with apples, finding that an overhaul of accountants’ qualifications might be a detriment to the industry.

Speed said she examined the confusion in the marketplace around the proposed FASEA reforms and found that accountants are well-positioned as far as the standards are concerned and should be able to continue to practice in their chosen field without further study.

Speed posed that accountants shouldn’t be subject to the same study requirements just because others in the industry had done the wrong thing by their clients.

“This thought is further strengthened by the fact that all financial advisers have to successfully complete an exam by 1 January 2021, simply to be able to advise beyond that date,” she said. “So, why should ‘study for study’s sake’ even be considered? What’s the point of further bridging courses, when the abovementioned exam will contain much of the same subject matter?”