At this stage, many of the questions it said it had been asked at conferences, forums and meetings over the past few months cannot be clearly answered.

Among them is when the legislative changes will be finalised – FMA said it expected the bill to pass around the end of the year and then there would be at least nine months’ preparation before the new regime began.

The minimum standards of competence, knowledge and skills needed for the new regime were also an unknown – as was whether RFAs should complete their level five certificate before the new regime started.

“The Code Working Group will be releasing a draft code for further feedback in October this year.  This will have details of the proposed competency standards you will need to meet under the new regime.”

Advisers also wanted to know when transitional licensing would open but the FMA said that was unclear.

“At this stage the dates are uncertain.  Timings will become more certain after Parliament passes the final Bill and the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs approves the Code of Conduct. MBIE has advised there will be at least nine months to prepare from the date the Minister signs off the Code – this includes time to get your transitional licence.”

There was also uncertainty around the cost of a licence and the levies that would apply under the new regime but the FMA said the application process would be done online. “Once we have finalised our new licensing processes, we will share this information with you.”

The FMA said it would update its questions over time.

You can see the full FAQ here.