Mr Meldrum, who is the head of advice at Australian Unity Personal Financial Services, said his talks with the TPB have revealed a lack of preparedness for the TASA regulation.
“In my discussions with the TPB, they are very much in the dark on the best model to implement,” he told ifa.
“[This is true] not only for the regulation of financial planners and risk specialists who will become subject to the TPB’s Code of Professional Conduct once registered, but also the practicalities of registering up to 55,000 representatives, authorised representatives and licensees within the three-year transition period,” said Mr Meldrum.
Despite the “rigorous debate” around the proposed amendments to TASA, Mr Meldrum said he hadn’t heard any planners saying ‘we don’t want this’ – instead, the industry simply wants more thought put into the process.
“In all the rhetoric and needless politicisation of the bill, the distracting and unhelpful criticism of the advice profession from some sectors has not focused on why the [financial planning bodies] have lobbied for more time,” he said.
For advisers who are working hard to comply with the Future of Financial Advice reforms, the big questions is: ‘How will this work and what does it mean for my clients and my ability to adviser them effectively?’, said Mr Meldrum.
The parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services is holding its first public hearing on the proposed TASA amendments in Sydney today.
Given that the level of training of many non-accountant planners is well below that required for current TA registration, some thought should be given to the title ‘registered tax agent’ as it applies to planners. The still significant minority of planners will just misuse it – evidence of overstatement is available on many planner websites.
Totally support Greg’s comments. As a 60 year old Planner working with HNW clients and their families, I am more than happy to undertake more traing to improve my skills, if required. I just want to know what I have to do and that what ever it is, is achievable. In the last couple of years I investigated the process to be a tax agent and from my memory one of the criteria was that I had to have worked with a Tax Agent for something like 8 years. Clearly this is impractical. Let’ have a sensible approach and get on with it.