The delayed opening date for the Financial Service Providers Register to July 1, which appeared on the Companies Office blog, is another blow to the December timeline to meet adviser regulation as amendments to the initial bills to address their shortcomings continue to sit in Select Committee stage.

"The date has been changed to accommodate legislative timetables involving registration and authorisation fees, dispute resolution schemes, implementation procedures, and other matters relating to both the FSPR and the FAA regimes," wrote Catherine Otten, registry policy analyst at the Companies Office, in her blog. The Ministry of Economic Development, of which the Companies Office is a part, did not immediately respond to Good Returns' inquiries.

In a recent interview with Asset Magazine, Commerce Minister Simon Power reiterated the start date for the regime is not going to change. Still, Commissioner for Financial Advisers David Mayhew has indicated the go-live date does not have to encompass all aspects of the regime, and that the important thing was that the industry was engaging with the new regulations.

The December deadline for the regulations has been a point of contention for the past year, with seeming delays at every hurdle from the appointment of the code committee to the ongoing hold-ups to the release of their draft code of conduct after an exhaustive consultation process.

Last month, the Investment Savings and Insurance Association surveyed its members and found most of them expected to be ready in time for the new regulations, though that would require policy-makers to pass the amended legislation without any delays.