Associations tell Govt to hurry up on fix ups

The Minister of Commerce, Simon Power indicated that he was happy for officials to consult industry and provide a suitable solution under the regulations of the Financial Advisers Act.

Due to late changes to the Financial Advisers Act, mortgage and insurance advisers were given assurances by government officials that the concept of having a ‘voluntary' option of becoming Authorised Financial Advisers made sense and would be formulated.  This has been supported by the inclusion of Category two products within the new draft code recently released.

FAANZ chairman Ron Flood says "Many advisers working with Category 2 products have continued to progress their education and system upgrades, investing millions of dollars preparing to opt into the Authorised Financial Advisers regime."

Flood said there are practical issues that would be addressed by allowing certainty around the ‘opt in' clause.  Advisers that want to be part of the AFA regime and who specialise in insurance and mortgages need to know that they are part of the AFA pathway.