AFA tells O’Dwyer of FASEA concerns
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has met with the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer and expressed its unhappiness with some elements of the approach being pursued by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) including the proposed advice exam.
In a communication to members, AFA chief executive, Phil Kewin, confirmed his organisation had met with O’Dwyer noting that the AFA had a “a number of serious concerns about the proposals and the negative impact they will have on the future of advice and the impact on the broader community”.
“On Monday, we met with the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services (Kelly O’Dwyer) to explain our concerns with respect to the FASEA proposals on Professional Standards,” his communication said. “We specifically addressed our concerns with the education standards, including the definition of a related degree and the lack of recognition for unrelated degrees, Advanced Diplomas (or DFP 1- 8), and professional designations.”
“We also took the opportunity to express our concerns about the potential impact upon the financial advice profession if a practical solution could not be found. We asked the Minister about what the Government expected the outcome would be and the Minister clearly stated that there was no target for adviser attrition.”
Kewin said the AFA had also discussed the National Exam and the fact that there was a lack of detail on content, up to four hours, closed book, 65 per cent pass mark (75 per cent for ethics questions) and a lack of preparation materials or practice exams.
“The Minister expressed a view that this appeared to be unreasonable. She did make the point that this was a consultation process, however we noted that consultation should not be run on the basis of ambit claims and unreasonable expectations as the starting point,” Kewin’s communication to members said.
“The Minister noted that FASEA was an independent body, however she agreed to discuss our concerns with them,” the AFA communication said.
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