FPA News – Real estate agents submission

A review of real estate agents providing investment advice in regard to property is being sought through an FPA submission to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

The FPA will meet with ASIC to discuss this later in the month. The submission argues that when real estate agents are providing investment advice in relation to property they should be subject to the same standards of conduct and controls as financial planners. The FPA is also arguing real estate agents should be licensed to give advice about sale of real estate as an investment.

The Government is set to release its next consultative paper for the implementation of CLERP 6 this week, with responses sought by the end of March. The FPA has established a CLERP 6 task force to prepare FPA comment, and the task force will liaise with chapters to provide feedback and gain views on the issue.

The FPA board of directors has established terms of reference for a review of FPA disciplinary policies and procedures. The review aims to ensure that the FPA's disciplinary processes remain relevant and compatible with those of other comparable professional industry organisations. The review is expected to begin this month and finish by August, with any necessary changes to the association's articles being submitted to the annual general meeting in November. The FPA is expected to relaease more information as the review progresses.

ASIC has established focus groups to discuss its latest draft proposals for personal competencies for financial advisers operating in the retail market. ASIC has progressed to a more flexible approach to setting minimum training and education standards for individual advisers and is no longer exclusively committed to the ANTA model. However, ASIC will require objectivity in assessment of courses against the established benchmarks, a requirement the FPA fully supports.