ASIC issues AFSLs infringement notices for adviser registration breaches

ASIC has issued infringement notices to two Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees over financial advisers providing personal advice while unregistered.

Skye Money in Victoria and Smart Financial Capital in NSW each paid an infringement notice penalty of $31,300 on 1 July and 11 July 2025, respectively.

“ASIC acted because it had reasonable grounds to believe that the AFS licensees had authorised a financial adviser who gave personal advice to a retail client in relation to relevant financial products while the adviser was unregistered,” it stated.

The requirement to register an adviser came into force in February 2024 and means a relevant provider must be authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice and registered with ASIC before giving financial advice to retail clients. This is a separate requirement to the one that requires an AFSL to appoint a relevant provider to the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) once they have been authorised, ASIC clarified.

If an authorised financial adviser gives personal advice while unregistered, the adviser breaches s921Y of the Corporations Act and the AFS licensee breaches s921Z of the Corporations Act.

“Failure to register a financial adviser creates a risk for consumers who may receive personal advice from unregistered advisers. The registration requirement is an important consumer protection mechanism to ensure AFS licensees have considered and received declarations about whether their financial advisers are fit and proper and meet the education and training standards,” the corporate regulator said.

Both licensees immediately registered their adviser and reported the breach to ASIC after becoming aware of their individual being unregistered. ASIC said this was taken into account when deciding its enforcement action.

ASIC reminded AFS licensees to ensure their advisers are registered on the FAR and understand the circumstances when they may need to be deregistered. If a registration is ceased, they will need to re-register that adviser again before they can legally provide advice.

ASIC stated payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability.

These latest incidents mark five infringement notices issued by ASIC in 2025 to licensees that breached their obligations requirements.