Acting on industry feedback, the corporate regulator has launched the Financial Advice Hub for advice licensees and advisers.
The centralised financial advice web page is supposed to act as a one-stop access point for pertinent guidance and information impacting financial advice licensees, advisers, and relevant stakeholders.
“The financial adviser webpage is just one in a range of initiatives that ASIC has scheduled for release in response to calls to better assist advice licensees and advisers in their efforts to provide good-quality and affordable personal advice to consumers,” the corporate regulator said in a statement.
ASIC developed the web page following feedback, in response to Consultation Paper 332: Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers (CP 332), that ASIC’s guidance was hard to find.
“As part of CP 332, we asked industry to provide feedback about the impediments to providing good quality and affordable advice. We received an unprecedented 466 submissions from industry participants and relevant stakeholders,” ASIC said.
“Part of the response from industry asked for shorter, simpler, and more user-friendly guidance with practical examples.”
ASIC added that it anticipates that these new initiatives can help industry participants reduce compliance costs and deliver personal advice more efficiently and effectively.
“We will continue to engage with industry on initiatives to assist them with providing good quality and affordable advice to consumers as resources permit,” the corporate regulator vowed.
Can they add a Regulatory Guidance note on how it is possible to run a Dealer Group in which the ARs and CARs recommend the Dealer Group owned product (MDA) in over 95% of cases, without disclosing the common ownership in SOAs and explain how this satisfies the FASEA Code. Concurrently they could juxtapose their inaction here with them arriving unannounced at a FP business with 2 armed Federal Police, an ASIC Lawyer and 2 ASIC staff – based on a disgruntled former employee’s false claims of a relatively minor hypothetical breach.
Crikey that sounds insane
That would be an interesting morning
It was an interesting day!
Does this webpage outline the extent to which ASIC will interpret and enforce regulations in a biased and persecutory manner? Does it tell us the areas in which ASIC will bully and intimidate licensees to follow compliance measures that are not required by law?
Badly designed laws are only half the reason consumers are unable to access affordable, professional advice. Another big part of the problem is rogue regulators like ASIC and AFCA who adopt a “guilty until proven innocent” approach, and regulate according to their own narrow ideology.
Industry asked for shorter, simpler, and more user-friendly guidance with practical examples.
ASICs response was “here is a new webpage that has links to all of the existing advice and regulations we have”. Industry should have been more specific, we don’t want an easy to navigate website, we want shorter, simpler guidance documents.
…like SOA’s that guide the retail client?
ha! sorry ASIC, all you have done is linked to your convoluted documents and guidance on one page. this fails your BID to your clients, US!
ASIC demonstrating all they know in one Hub? Amazing.