Planners to pay more than $750,000 to be on ASIC register
The financial planning sector will pay more than $750,000 in registration fees for inclusion on the Financial Advisers Register to be administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC yesterday released information stating that financial advisers could be appointed to the register via its website and that "all initial appointments of financial advisers must be completed by 30 March 2015".
However advisers who do sign up to the register will be required to pay a fee of $43 each if they do so electronically and $79 if lodged in any other form with a fee being charged on a ‘per role' basis according to the relevant section of the Corporations Act 2001.
According to ASIC this means that if two planners are being registered the fee would be $86 and so on, or if a single adviser was being registered as an adviser and an authorised representative, two fees would also be applicable.
Collectively these fees, for adviser registrations alone, would total $774,000 across the financial planning sector assuming there are currently 18,000 financial planners operating within the Australian market.
Based on planner numbers reported in the Money Management 2014 Top 100 Dealer Group Survey AMP would pay at least $140,000 for the planners under its licences, while the Commonwealth Bank and NAB would pay around $68,000 each to register their planners. Collectively AMP and the Big Four Banks would pay at least $388,000 to register their planners.
In announcing the opening of the register to appointments ASIC stated that the dual fee model will operate during a transition period which will end at 30 September 2015 and that late fees will apply to planners and licensees who fail to register before that time.
These late fees will vary depending on the relevant section of the Corporations Act under which someone must be registered with the Act stating the fees would range from $74 to $308.
ASIC also stated that the inclusion of educational qualifications and professional memberships for financial advisers would initially carry no costs and the notification of ‘important changes' particularly those related to a financial adviser's status - including changing licensee, ceasing to practice or changes to products the adviser can advise on - would also currently attract no fees.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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