Ahead of key address to the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) annual conference in Adelaide today, the Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Services Technology, Senator Jane Hume, has signalled sympathy for advisers seeking to meet the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority requirements.
Both the AFA and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) have sought an extension to the timeframes around advisers meeting their FASEA requirements to accord with the two years originally promised by the former Minister, Kelly O’Dwyer.
Lobbying efforts in Canberra over the past two months have led some to suggest that Hume may use her speech to the AFA in Adelaide today to announce some form of extension to the FASEA time-frames.
Yesterday, in a speech to the Financial Services Council, Hume said the Government recognised that many advisers needed to balance work, study and family commitments.
“The Government is listening to your concerns and is carefully considering how to proceed,” she said.
Any move by the Government to alter the time-frames would require amendments to the legislation underlying FASEA – something which would need to be navigated through both houses of the Parliament.
