New ASIC guidance provided on industry levies

According to ASIC estimates in its Cost Recovery Implementation Statement, licensees providing personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products would be expected to pay a minimum levy of $1,500, plus $907 for every adviser under the licensee.

A flat $1,958 levy is likely for licensees providing personal advice to retail clients on products that are not relevant financial products.

Licensees only providing general advice would likely be given a $828 levy, while licensees only providing personal advice to wholesale clients would get a $566 levy.

In its statement, ASIC said that in 2018–19, it will be focusing on:

• risk-based supervision and surveillance of the practices of financial advisers, based on our threat, harm and behaviour framework, to identify and address harms that threaten good investor and consumer outcomes;
• advice compliance at the five largest financial advice firms;
• testing industry compliance with the fee disclosure statement and renewal notice obligations, including reviewing samples of documentation provided to clients;
• monitoring firms’ remediation programs for fee-for-no-service breaches and continuing to investigate misconduct and take enforcement action;
• developing an approved product list reporting regime for firms that issue products and provide advice; and
• providing information and support to guide consumers’ decisions about setting up SMSFs and taking action where poor advice has been provided to consumers.

“The indicative levies published in the final CRIS aim to help the industry better plan for the actual levy, which will not be billed until January 2020,” ASIC said.

“The indicative levies are a guide and the amounts are likely to change when ASIC’s actual regulatory costs are known and published in December 2019 and the actual business activity metrics for each subsector are provided by regulated entities.”

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].