It is vital for the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) to appoint a chief executive and a “lean and efficient” secretariat quickly to pour over the details of the new education and professional standards requirements, according to the Financial Services Council (FSC).
In welcoming the appointment of the board by Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer yesterday, FSC CEO, Sally Loane said the board would be crucial to provide details on the new education and training standards for advisers and for developing an industry exam and code of ethics for all advisers to follow ahead of the 1 January 2019 start date.
“There is a lot of work to do ahead of the 1 January deadline, not just to set the standards and publish the Code of Ethics but also to ensure that advisers have time to complete and meet the new requirements,” Loane said.
New advisers would be required to hold a relevant degree before they were eligible to begin a supervision year and sit the exam while existing advisers would have until 1 January 2021 to pass the exam and until 1 January 2024 to reach a standard equivalent to a degree.
The SMSF Association welcomed the appointment of Catherine Walter, deputy chairman of Victorian Funds Management Corporation and a member of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payment Systems Board.
SMSF Association managing director/CEO, Andrea Slattery says: “The minister’s appointments are recognition of the importance the Government is placing on improving the training and educational standards of advisers, an issue the association has long advocated”.
“In particular, we will be urging the authority to recognise the SMSF sector as a specialty and a profession to safeguard the financial interests of the more than 1.1 million trustees and the $653 billion in FUM [funds under management] critical to Australia’s retirement system.
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) also welcomed the appointments to the board, with former national president and Integra Financial Services principal and practitioner, Deborah Kent appointed as one of the board members.
AFA president, Marc Bineham said: “The AFA welcomes the diversity and inclusion of industry, consumer, education and ethical representatives on the board. We also welcome the appointment of Catherine Walter AM, as chairman”.
