The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced the need for financial advisers who are also registered tax agents to meet particular education standards has been removed and it will record them on its registers as being qualified tax (financial) advisers.
ASIC stated the update was made after the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No 3) Act received royal assent on 20 September, with the legislation aimed at addressing education requirements for financial advisers registered as tax agents.
The new legislation removed the need for advisers who are also registered tax agents to demonstrate completion of specific courses in commercial and taxation law as previously mandated by the Corporations (Relevant Providers – Education and Training Standards) Determination 2021. As a result, financial advisers who hold recognition from ASIC and are registered tax agents are now classified as ‘qualified tax relevant providers’.
The corporate regulator noted it had updated its compliance framework to reflect the change, stating: “ASIC will make a one-off update to the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) on Friday 3 November to record that individuals who are both a relevant provider and a registered tax agent on 20 September 2023 can provide tax (financial) advice services to retail clients on relevant financial products.
“AFS (Australian financial services) licensees can update the details of the relevant providers that they authorise using the ‘maintain’ function on ASIC Connect. There is no cost to notify ASIC of whether a relevant provider can or cannot provide tax (financial) advice services for the first time.”
ASIC reminded AFS licensees to maintain accurate information regarding their relevant providers in the FAR and directed advisers to access updated regulatory guidance on their website for additional information.
It also confirmed it had already informed affected individuals and their AFS licensees about the update.