FPA members finally get opt-in relief
Members of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) who subscribe to its Professional Ongoing Fees Code have been granted relief from the opt-in requirements attaching to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation.
The relief was confirmed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today, with the regulator saying it had approved the FPA Code on the basis that it would achieve the same policy outcomes as those intended by opt-in — to protect disengaged clients from paying ongoing financial advice fees where they have received little or no advice.
The ASIC announcement said a crucial part of the FPA Code was that it met and maintained certain minimum code governance requirement, particularly around the FPA implementing processes to ensure that subscribers were actually complying with the Code, including the imposition of sanctions.
ASIC noted that it had the power to revoke its approval of a code where it was satisfied that the code no longer met the requirements.
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