Amid continuing adviser concern about the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) code of ethics, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) is promoting the fact that FASEA chief executive, Stephen Glenfield will be appearing at the FPA’s national congress this week to explain the authority’s position.
And amid suggestions from some quarters of the advice industry that the Australian Securities and Investments (ASIC) may have influenced the code, the FPA has confirmed that a Glenfield will be sitting alongside an ASIC representative and a Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) representative in a regulatory workshop.
The FPA congress is occurring at a challenging time for the organisation with its annual report confirming declining enrolments for its Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, the Government’s decision not to proceed with code-monitoring bodies and with adviser numbers across the industry generally declining.
Despite the general decline in adviser numbers, the FPA annual report pointed to 1,530 new members albeit that membership subscriptions were down on 2018, alongside so-called partner fees and the CFP program.
In his statement accompanying the announcement that Glenfield would be discussing the code of ethics at this week’s conference, De Gori said FPA members were seeking greater clarity about the code.
“This will be the first time that financial planners have the opportunity to hear direct from FASEA since the code of ethics guidance was released in October,” he said.
