The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced changes to reporting dates for various required notifications in the transition to the new financial adviser education reforms.
The corporate regulator said the revised schedule aims to simplify licensees’ disclosure obligations and clarify the process for recognising advisers as existing providers.
Financial advisers who are listed on the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019 will be recognised as an existing provider under the new professional standards.
It is therefore vital for financial advisers who are currently authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on more complex financial products to ensure they are on the FAR.
Those who are recognised as existing providers have until 1 January 2021 to pass the exam and 1 January 2024 to complete an approved qualification. Meanwhile, they can continue to work as a financial adviser.
Financial advisers can demonstrate they are an existing provider if they are ‘current’ on the FAR at any time between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019 and not banned, suspended or disqualified as at 1 January 2019.
Advisers who are not recognised as an existing provider must pass an exam and complete an approved qualification by 1 January 2019 to work as a financial adviser. They must also undertake a year of work and training.
ASIC will also make changes to the timing of the earliest FAR notification requirements under the professional standards reforms, which it said will simplify notification requirements for licensees and enable it to implement changes more effectively.
One of the changes is ASIC will push back the timing for licensees to notify of new advisers who are joining the industry for the first time after 1 January 2019. As a result, new provisional relevant providers can only be added to the FAR from 15 November 2019.
