Labor Parliamentarians sympathetic on FASEA extension
Financial advisers have been lobbying Federal Opposition parliamentarians in an effort to ensure that the Government’s promised extension to the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) exam arrangements actually pass the Parliament.
The lobbying has been occurring amid reports that Australian Labor Party members will oppose passage of the legislative changes when they reach the Senate, but a number of Labor back-benchers have told financial adviser constituents that no formal party position has been reached on the issue.
After substantial lobbying by both the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) the Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, Senator Jane Hume, announced in late August the Government would be moving to allow an extension of the FASEA timetable.
She said that under the new requirements, advisers who were registered on the Financial Adviser Register on 1 January, 2019 would be able to complete the FASEA-approved exam by 1 January, 2022 representing a one year extension and that they could complete FASEA's qualification requirements by 1 January 2026, representing a two year extension.
However, the chief executive of FASEA, Stephen Glenfield pointed out to Money Management’s recent Future of Wealth Management conference that the Government’s proposed changes needed to pass the Parliament and that, until that happened, the authority would be adhering to the previously-legislated timetable.
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