ASIC moves to have licensees meet FASEA standards



At least one responsible manager within advice licensees will need to have both passed the financial adviser exam and to have satisfied the degree qualification requirement under new proposals outlined by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission today.
ASIC has released a consultation paper on updated competence requirements for advice licensees updating Regulatory Guide 105 to support professional standard reforms.
Commenting on the proposals, ASIC Commissioner, Danielle Press said they were designed to strengthen the organisational competence of financial advice licensees by ensuring that advisers were supervised by at least one responsible manager who satisfied the new education and training standards.
“We would like to add to the existing options for responsible managers to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by introducing a new Option 6. This option will reflect the higher levels of competence expected in the industry,” she said.
ASIC is proposing that:
- advice licensees would be required to have at least one responsible manager who satisfies Option 6;
- responsible managers who wish to satisfy Option 6 would have to pass the financial adviser exam, satisfy the degree requirement that apply to existing financial advisers, and meet the CPD requirements; and
- both new and existing responsible managers who wish to satisfy Option 6 would have until 1 January 2021 to pass the exam and until 1 January 2024 to satisfy the degree requirement.
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