CFP delivers FPA an advantage
The Financial Planning Association's (FPA's) control of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation in Australia places it at advantage in the emerging industry environment, according to AMP Financial Services chief executive Craig Meller.
Meller said that advantage flowed from the desirability of the CFP designation as a higher educational standard - something which gave it an advantage in terms of being a professional association and a code of conduct holder.
Asked to comment on the question of the opt-in requirements becoming part and parcel of any codes of conduct approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Meller said he had not been surprised by indications from the regulator that this would be the case.
"ASIC had been very consistent from the outset," he said.
With the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) bills yet to go before the Senate, Meller said the greater concern for AMP was the continuing uncertainty and pointed to the fact that while the Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten, had said implementation of the FOFA bills would be delayed by a year, this had not been underpinned by any legislation.
He said the FOFA bills would require significant changes to significant systems and AMP would have preferred greater certainty.
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