MoBIE has issued a discussion document calling for input on a range of subjects. Financial advisers groups have been holding meetings with the Ministry to discuss it.

Leitch said the people he met at the Ministry were trying to understand the issues that have affected financial advisers. “It’s a genuine attempt to start a period of consultation to understand the consequences, and the unintended consequences, of regulation.”
 

He said the enduring message he tried to leave with the Minitstry was not to change things too much. He said regulation needed some time to bed in and for everyone to become comfortable with it. “The worst thing is if there’s no confidence.”
 

One of the questions being asked is: Is the RFA terminology appropriate, or should it be replaced by something less likely to imply a licensed professional status?

Leitch said: “I think they would be foolish to do anything about the word RFA. People ned to be seen as being an adviser.”

He said whether people were Registered Financial Advisers, Authorised Financial Advisers or part of a Qualifying Financial Entity was less important than that they had the confidence to go out and do their job.
 

He said if someone wanted to obtain insurance, going to an adviser with the right knowledge was the important thing, not whether they went to an AFA or RFA.

But the question proved there had been some discussion about it, he said.