Tough planning code to be argued further

By Michael Bailey

FINANCIAL planning members of Australia’s two peak accounting bodies have been granted nearly an extra month to comment on a tough new code of practice.

The 3,000 financial planning members of CPA Australia (CPA) and the Institute of CharteredAccountants of Australia (ICAA) will now have until April 29 to comment on the draft code, known as APS 12 — Statement of Financial Advisory Service Standards.

The deadline was originally April 4, but the CPA and ICAA decided to extend it following member requests, and the news that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) would release the results of its ‘super switching’ adviser surveillance program by the end of April.

Some financial planners have taken umbrage at certain sections of the code, which frowns on commission payments, requires buyer of last resort arrangements be disclosed to clients, and discourages the initial discounting of fees where advisers plan to recoup the funds later through higher fees or commissions.

Nigel Janson, the chair of CPA Australia’s Financial Planning Discussion Group, claimed in his submission that grass roots members had not been given adequate input into the development of the code.

The CPA’s manager of financial planning, Chris Benson, disagreed and added that the authors of submissions would be invited to participate in the next stage of the code’s development.

He said the code was aiming for a “clearer interpretation” of the bodies’ existing codes of conduct, which would set apart its adherents as the most professional of all financial planners.