Transitional licensing will begin later this year for entities that want to become financial advice providers under the new regime.

Already, the Financial Markets Authority has indicated that it wants record-keeping and complaints standards – currently dealt with by the code of conduct for advisers – included in licensing requirements.

Angus Dale-Jones, chairman of the working group that developed the code, and soon to become chair of the code committee, said that was the new regime working exactly as expected.

The code provided high-level principles-based expectations of advisers while licensing provided rules for businesses.

“Different elements of the regime act together. The code focuses on the giving of advice, and licensing focuses on the things that need to be in place for a financial advice provider.”

He said it would mean that some of the requirements that currently applied to every adviser in the industry would instead only apply to those who sought to take their own licence.

"If you're a one-person business, that's not a particularly significant nuance but for a lot of people it is important."

The code would also fit alongside licensing requirements and other rules such as disclosure requirements, he said.

The code working group had one meeting after its new code was approved to resolve outstanding issues and would now have a watching brief until the new code took effect next year, he said.

The working group would at that point become the code committee.

It has already indicated that some aspects of the review would be up for early review, such as the education requirement for investment advisers.