The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has released its examination legislative instrument for financial advisers, including how much it will cost for an individual to sit the professional exam.
The Corporations (Relevant Providers Exams Standard) Determination 2019 stipulates the examination will have an associated fee of $540 plus GST.
In addition, FASEA announced the exam will cover Financial Advice Regulatory and Legal Obligations, Applied Ethics and Professional Reasoning, and Financial Advice Construction.
Candidates will have 3.5 hours to complete the exam, which includes 30 minutes of reading time. The exam must have at least 70 questions, made up of at least 64 multiple choice questions and at least six written response questions that require short answers or report writing.
The authority will publish the exam timetable along with registration terms and procedures on its website.
The first exam is expected to be held in mid-2019, with subsequent exams scheduled quarterly for all candidates from mid-2019. Exams will also be held bimonthly in 2020 for relevant providers whose details were on ASIC’s register on 1 January 2019.
Candidates who fail an exam may apply once to the exam administrator for a review of the marking of only the written response-style questions. The review will incur a fee.
FASEA has appointed the Australian Council for Education Research to develop and deliver the exam.
The authority said the legislative instrument was informed from consultation received through 67 formal submissions during the consultation process from March to June.
FASEA is seeking feedback and submissions on the legislative instrument by 4 January 2019.
