ASIC has imposed additional conditions on the licence of AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) in an effort to improve the latter’s provision of advice related to managed discretionary account (MDA) services.
The corporate regulator added the conditions to ensure AMPFP was able to comply with obligations related to the provision of MDA services and was able to monitor and supervise the MDA services provided by its advisers, who were also required to be adequately trained and meet the best interests obligations.
The conditions also ensure that when providing MDA services, AMPFP has the necessary human, financial and technological resources, as well as risk management and internal dispute resolution systems, and maintains adequate records.
The regulator imposed the conditions after it granted AMPFP’s application to vary its Australian financial services licence to provide MDA services and following ASIC surveillance of its MDA services and advice business.
AMPFP had previously been providing limited MDA services, but was required under law to transition to a licence variation that allowed it to continue to act as an MDA provider, which led to the surveillance and additional conditions.
ASIC commissioner Danielle Press said: “ASIC will impose licence conditions based on what an applicant is seeking authorisation for, what we know of them and what we may see during the application assessment process. New licence applicants and licensees seeking variations can expect to see ASIC tailor licence conditions more often.”