In its draft CRIS, the corporate regulator said the cost of regulating licensees that provide personal advice to retail clients was $48.4 million in 2023–24, with this to be divided among a total of 2,766 Australian Financial Services licensees, encompassing 15,371 advisers.
As such, the levy will amount to a minimum $1,500 plus $2,878 per adviser. This represents a slight increase from the previous financial year’s rate of $2,818 per adviser, which had been adjusted downward from $3,217 after widespread outrage and advocacy.
According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the cost of regulating the sector in 2022–23 was $47.6 million.
Of the $48.4 million projected for financial year 2024, enforcement costs are expected to come in at $19.51 million, while supervision and surveillance is forecast at $6.5 million.
Costs for regulating licensees providing personal advice on products that are not relevant financial products are expected to surge to $269,172 from $96,425.
For licensees that provide general advice only, ASIC predicts that the regulation cost will rise to $3 million, from $2.3 million a year earlier.
For those that provide personal advice to wholesale clients only, costs are projected to jump significantly to $1.9 million from $176,202.
More to come.
Enforcement costs are expected to come in at $19.51 million, while supervision and surveillance is forecast at $6.5 million.
Good value for money?
In the second half of 2023, ASIC finalised 26 enforcement outcomes for financial advice.
– 2 criminal convictions. But over the previous 12 months they were prosecuting 23 people, so doesn’t sound like a great success rate.
– 22 administrative resolutions.
– 2 civil penalties. But over the previous 12 months they were working on 15 cases, so once again not a great success rate.
Sounds like poor value for money. Can we complain to AFCA?
Mum and dads do NOT get your kids to pursue a career in financial planning !!!
Fee Disclosure Statement from ASIC please? Difficult to see how they could argue against an FDS being provided right? And this seems very much like an ongoing fee arrangement?
Whilst I agree with your notion. Its clearly not an “ongoing fee” as it is “negociated” (lol) annually and therefore an FDS does not apply.
With your knowledge level you should be able to walk into a job at ASIC
Start and end date, services to be provided, services actually provided and costs for each? Or is ASIC just running on the basis of day to day – and bill it all later?
I want my FDS on services charged and what was provided and what was not provided and if you get it wrong its a civil fine and you go to jail
I look at this overt highway robbery by ASIC and many other examples of govt over-reach, incompetence, burdensome unnecessary compliance and outrageous costs and think to myself what a wonderfully wise decision it was to sell up and leave this steaming hot mess behind in 2021. Should have done it 5 years earlier, in retrospect. That we pay taxes to keep them all employed is surely the ultimate punch in the face which has them laughing at the average punter and advisers alike.
Who can’t love ASIC they are the best and their rates are so cheap for the top shelf service they provide…
Im an adviser who pays tax to the govt to fund incompetent govt agencies like Asic. If thats not bad enough they then double dip via this joke of a levy.
How many Sherlock Holmes costumes does this buy?
Surely the pipe part of the outfit (previously missing) can be afforded now with this increase.
The ACCC should investigate for misleading pricing.
What an absolute disgrace. But typical of even more government overreach.
disgrace!
Costly worthless government agency
How much did they collect in fines and send to consolidated revenue?
Mental health, mental health, mental health. They sit there and they pretend like they care. What’s the point??
why is it a fee per adviser and not based on revenue income. For some advisers this will be nothing but for others it means 5% of total income. Is nothing fair at all anymore.
I wish I could just announce what it cost me to do something and then have it paid to me.
The should amend their charter to include the destruction of the financial advice sector.
Scammers love these taxes. Already turned a low means and simple client away… I explained the detailed and complexity of the process in giving Advice I was bound by, the Code of Ethics,and of course the fee….. and she walked out my door and straight into the hands of scammers and lost the lot. I was gutted..it went against every reason why I got into advice in the first place.
ASIC is the best business partner a scammer could wish for.
ASIC’s focus on persecuting honest professional advisers pushes consumers into the hands of scammers. ASIC’s focus on persecuting honest professional advisers ensures there is “insufficient resources” to prevent scammers from causing harm.
Let’s save the $48.4m and get rid of ASIC. If it does not exist there is no cost recovery!
Time for some cost cutting and redundancies down at ASIC….LOL!!
And what happens to the fines and penalties ASIC collect from the big end of town? Will any of that ever go back into the pot or do ASIC keep lining their pockets with fee revenue? This conduct is a disgrace and needs to be struck out with a new government.
It should be $0 as its not a servixe for advisers but for the public.
ASIC, destroying a Financial Advice business near you. Wowee.
Disgusting.
ASIC Levy/Tax = Fee for no service
I’mma go study medicine …
…and, set to increase as even more advisers stop topping up the feed-trough for these vultures. Hang on, vultures have to scavenge, these regulators are just parasites.
Just another cost on top all of the others Advisors need to cover to be in the most expensive profession the world right now. If it weren’t for Advisors, the economic costs to Australians would be much worse when thinking of Covid and other economic downturns, but what do we get in return- higher fees, more restricted renumeration and more red tape on everything we do.
and yet another joke from ASIC – good to see them destroying an industry cant wait to see what the CSLR levy is going to be