FPA chairman urges individual ASIC rego for planners

FPA/ASIC/financial-planners/financial-planning/commonwealth-bank/chairman/certified-financial-planner/australian-securities-and-investments-commission/

21 July 2014
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) chairman, Matthew Rowe has called for the implementation of compulsory individual registration for all financial planners with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Acknowledging Friday’s announcement by the Commonwealth Bank of higher educational and other standards for its financial planners, Rowe said there was a need for self-regulation to sit alongside regulation by ASIC with a fully enforceable professional code.

He claimed in an FPA Chairman’s Update that membership of a professional association, enshrinement of the term financial planner/adviser and a public register all formed part of a vision for self-regulation.

“I know it is heartbreaking to see the profession’s reputation denigrated with Inquiry after Inquiry, and as a result, more and more regulation,” he said. “The only answer is for regulation to work alongside a fully enforceable professional code of practice and compulsory individual registration for all planners with ASIC.  The FPA is seeking to set minimum education and experience standards, essential to building public trust in our profession.”

Rowe’s latest Chairman’s Update stood in stark contrast to one he issued a few weeks’ ago when he was strongly critical of the cultural issues which had given rise to the problems within the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning operations.

On this occasion, however, he congratulated the bank for its embrace of higher educational standards and the FPA-controlled Certified Financial Planner designation and its support for a national industry forum to address the 61 recommendations of the recent Senate Report.

 “We have always seen ourselves as a participant in such a process and we will step up to the plate to move things to the next stage,” Rowe said. “We feel action needs to occur and all industry participants should sign up to binding outcomes from a forum of this nature.”

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months 3 weeks ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months 4 weeks ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

5 months ago

ASIC has suspended the Australian Financial Services Licence of a Melbourne-based financial advice firm....

1 week 6 days ago

The corporate regulator has issued infringement notices to three AFSLs whose financial advisers provided personal advice to a retail client while unregistered....

2 weeks 4 days ago

ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test....

3 weeks 2 days ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND