Minimum competency standards are only the beginning

At a meeting in Wellington to discuss the committee's discussion document on competence, chairman Ross Butler told the audience it was quite clear that "at some stage in the future" tougher standards will be introduced and that the current regime being implemented is to set up the framework to stop the process from being stalled.

"We just want to get things started at the moment," Butler told the meeting. "We don't want to drive people out of the business" by raising the bar too high to begin with, he said.

The committee hinted at tighter requirements in its discussion document out last week, but Butler was more open in saying the current settings are to build "the initial framework." Future additions will likely see different types of adviser classes with differing training requirements.

The committee took on board concerns from advisers that the current regulation does not allow for people training to be advisers to provide services to customers and excluding them from achieving the education requirements, and will look at options to address this, such as creating a provisional class for advisers in training.