Revised Code back in the Commissioner's hands

Code Committee chairman Ross Butler says the amendments have been made in three areas in response to directions given by the Commissioner to ensure that the Code is consistent with the Financial Advisers Act 2008. 

The main amendments made by the Committee are:

Firstly, the description of the financial adviser services requiring authorisation as set out in the Background to the Code has been updated to accord with changes to the Act that came into force on 1 July 2010. It now includes detail stating that financial advisersare required to be authorised under the Financial Advisers Act in order to provide a personalised service to a retail client.

Secondly, an explanatory note has been added to Code Standard 5 clarifying both its limited application and the fact that an authorised financial adviser (AFA) may not provide financial advice to a retail client in relation to the acquisition of a financial product that is not able to be lawfully offered to the client.