The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has further extended relief for financial advisers that will allow them to provide simplified advice documents for clients seeking assistance due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The relief was first provided by ASIC in April 2020 and allows an adviser to provide a record of advice (ROA) in place of a statement of advice (SOA) where a client’s personal circumstances have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The relief measure was originally scheduled to end on 14 April 2021, but was extended to 15 October 2021, with the latest extension to end on 15 April 2022.
“ASIC decided to extend this relief after industry consultation identified that the extension would be helpful for financial advisers in the current circumstances,” the regulator stated.
It added it has also reintroduced the relief measure that allows financial advisers additional time to give their clients an SOA after time-critical advice has been provided.
The original relief measure expired on 15 April 2021 and gave advisers up to 30 business days to provide an SOA after time-critical advice is provided rather than the five days required under law, however, under the new measure the extended period will only be up to 20 days.
ASIC stated it remade this relief measure following industry feedback that there was an increased need for time-critical advice due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Both measures have been set out in a new relief instrument from ASIC, which will monitor the appropriateness of the measures and may end them before the six-month period, with sufficient notice to industry, if it considers it appropriate.
This relief comes on the same day the ATO has announced it will not apply penalties or interest on pay-as-you-go instalments for the 2022 income year for SMSFs affected by COVID-19 and that have excessive variations where the funds have taken reasonable care to estimate their end-of-year tax.
