Speaking at the Workplace Savings conference he said QFE's must remain capable of delivering compliance with legislation.

 "The risk profile of QFEs will be important in this regard, so it may well be the Securities Commission will do a comparison of adviser business statements (ABS) to see where risks lie in terms of statutory objectives."­­

He says marked intelligence and complaints will be a source of information as well.

Mayhew asks how governing bodies will know they are dealing appropriately with regulatory risk and delivering consumer protection.

"Should the commission be involved in interviewing and reviewing compliance functions? Interviewing the management in relation to controls? How do we test compliance assurance methodology? How do we review key areas of concern?"

He says this is material which will be developed over the next few years. Disclosure requirements are also yet to be worked out and publicized for QFEs.

Mayhew believes the financial adviser regulatory agenda is now reasonably clear and set out by legislation providing the building blocks for development.

"But if the past teaches us anything, it is that the future is unpredictable, not least because of the unforeseen consequences of reform where we have such limited insight into the shape of the industry."

He says we don't know for example, how many authorised financial advisers (AFAs) there will be or what market forces will be unleashed by the interplay between individual AFAs and QFEs.