Advisers on Good Returns have questioned why paid webinars and seminars should be needed to guide them through the process of transitioning to the new regime.

"It seems to be the pattern as 2010/11 that everyone is making money from these changes apart from advisers - it should not be that difficult or confusing that we need to pay another party to attend a webinar should it,” one said.

Gavin Austin, owner of compliance firm ABC, said he agreed.

“I’m happy to take a call from anyone who wants to talk about it, I’m not going to charge anything.”

He said the transition to the new regime was an opportunity for compliance firms to add value because they could talk to advisers about what was happening, with a view to selling services if appropriate.

A spokeswoman for the FMA said the regulator was happy to answer questions about the changes and had been proactively talking to advisers for many months.

They could email, call or set up a free 45-minute session in person or on the phone, she said.

"Our website includes a lot of information about the changes and we also send out regular updates via email to all advisers registered on the FSPR.

"While we’re happy to talk through the changes, our role is not to advise firms or individuals on what’s best for them – they may well want to seek professional advice on this."

David Greenslade, of Strategi, who is running licensing seminars at present, said the FMA would provide a comprehensive licensing guide.

“However, it is prudent that a transitionally licensed FAP seek advice relating to the application and policies/processes etc so that they are ensuring their licence application is fit for purpose and proportional for their business. 

“A licence application is effectively an undertaking to the regulator as to how a business intends to operate and how it will meet its obligations and FMA expectations. It is important that an application is not ‘under cooked’.

"This is where the applicant provides too little information to enable FMA to make an informed decision or too little in the way of policies and procedures to provide confidence to the FMA  that the business can meet its obligations. Conversely, an application does not want to be ‘overcooked’. This is where the applicant over engineers its policies and procedures thereby creating an unrealistically complex structure under which it operates.”

He said getting advice would benefit the business y providing ideas on how to streamline processes.

“Ideally, a FAP should avoid going down the track of taking current systems and processes and just adding additional compliance on top. It is normally better for the business and the client to use entry into the new regime to re-engineer a number of systems and processes to increase efficiencies, improve the client experience, reduce costs and ensure compliance.”