ANZ endorses competency exam, higher CPD bar
ANZ has broken ranks with a number of its financial services counterparts, in backing a national competency exam, higher continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and a planner-funded last resort compensation scheme.
In a submission to the Senate Economics Committee's Scrutiny of Financial Advice inquiry, the bank said a national competency exam would give consumers confidence that their planner meets an industry benchmark.
It recommended the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Series 7 exam as an appropriate blueprint.
It also said increasing CPD requirements for planners to a minimum 40 points per year should be considered, alongside "increasingly weight on ethical conduct".
ANZ also firmly backed planning firms being insured to compensate all customers of poor advice if the licensee does not have the financial means to cover losses.
"When dealing with other people's money, a high bar of professional responsibility must be set, particularly in order to prevent the systemic risk that clients of individual financial firms are unable to seek redress where poor financial advice is given," it said.
"Those firms that choose not to participate in an industry insurance scheme should demonstrate an adequate capacity to provide redress to those who have suffered loss in extreme cases."
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.
