AFA will press for more FASEA amendments
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) will continue to press the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) for accommodations around the financial adviser exam, continuing professional development (CPD) arrangements and the code of conduct after meeting with Assistant Treasurer, Stuart Robert.
AFA chief executive, Phil Kewin confirmed to Money Management his organisation’s intention to press for changes in circumstances where he believed the minister, like the AFA, wanted to make sure the FASEA regime ended up achieving a “reasonable set of outcomes”.
Speaking following his meeting with Robert, Kewin acknowledged that the legislative underpinnings of FASEA meant the minister had only limited influence over the authority’s decisions, but said he believed there was a common objective of turning the financial planning industry into a profession.
The AFA and other financial planning organisations have expressed concerns about the shape of the FASEA code of conduct suggesting that it reflects having been written by someone unfamiliar with the financial planning industry.
As well, the AFA has expressed concern about the logistics surrounding the financial adviser exam in terms of existing advisers being asked to sit the exam before they have undertaken any study.
Where CPD is concerned, the AFA is concerned that the arrangements became effective from 1 January, this year, but that licensees have been given only until March to get their houses in order,
Notwithstanding the fact that FASEA has issued the legislative instruments underpinning the new arrangements, both the AFA and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) are hoping that further consultations can result in important changes which will ensure better acceptance of the regime by planners.
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