APIR signs up first client for compliance reference service

APIR Systemshas signed up Brisbane-based dealer groupAustralian Investment and Financial Planners(AI&FP) as the first full-service user of its Compliance Reference System.

The system was developed under the guidance of an industry steering committee chaired by the National Office of the Information Economy and with over $1 million in funding from the Federal and ACT governments.

The system provides advisers with an identification, authentication and compliance service that can track documentation and check for compliance accreditation.

“With over 60 authorised representatives around Australia, I need to be able to confirm at any point in time that each of them is satisfying the regulations with respect to their training, experience, authorisations and the business they are writing,” AI&FP director Michael Summers says.

Summers sees this type of desktop-based technology as an efficient tool to assist in the transition to a new regulatory environment with the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act in March next year.

“The time and cost involved in getting specialist advice every time we have a compliance query is just not practical.

“This system will give us instant up-to-date responses, the cost is low and our business momentum won’t be affected,” he says.

The APIR system was only recently released to the market, and an official Parliamentary launch is expected in the next few weeks.

APIR Systems also generates code numbers for managed funds and has more than 10,000 products listed and coded.

In August last year, APIR was also contracted by theInvestment and Financial Services Associationto implement, host and maintain the online Superannuation Product Identification Number register.