Planners struggling to meet FOFA standard

Only four out of one hundred financial planners attending the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA’s) Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) briefing in Sydney indicated they were ready for the new legislation, which reflects a national trend, according to general manager for policy Dante De Gori. 

De Gori said it was not surprising to see a large number of advisers lacking FOFA-readiness, given the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is yet to provide final regulatory guidance on a few topics. 

The regulator has indicated the guidance on grandfathering arrangements is expected to come out after 13 June. 

The industry is yet to see final regulation around stockbroker fees, the exclusion of intra-fund advice from opt-in and the exclusion of calculators from the FOFA regime. 

“There are a number of pieces of regulation that the Treasury is dealing with - and that we’re still negotiating at the moment - but it just shows how close it is to 1 July,” De Gori said. 

However, FPA chief Mark Rantall told Money Management he remained confident in ASIC’s approach to potential unintended breaches of the legislation. 

“ASIC have indicated that they’ll be taking a facilitative approach in the first 12 months of the implementation of FOFA,” he said. 

“What they’ll be looking for is a genuine attempt to implement the reforms. 

“If planners are sitting back and ignoring the requirements then ASIC will take a hard line, but if planners are making a genuine approach and there are minor misdemeanours then I’m sure the regulator will be sensible.”