SMSF professionals warned on looming registration deadline
With the new education requirements for advisers set to officially kick off in around five weeks, ASIC has issued a reminder to advice professionals to ensure they are registered before the end of this year.
ASIC has reminded financial advisers and accountants authorised under a licence to make sure they are on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register no later than 31 December 2018, before new professional standards requirements take effect.
The new requirements will be implemented progressively from 1 January 2019.
Under the reforms, only financial advisers who were authorised at any time between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019, and who are not prohibited from providing advice on 1 January 2019, will be recognised as an existing adviser, ASIC warned.
“From 1 January 2019, new entrants will have to meet new education and training requirements to be able to provide advice to clients,” it said.
“They will have to complete an approved qualification and pass an exam before they can be authorised to provide advice, and they will also have to complete a year of supervised work and training.”
Registration on the Financial Advisers Register is the responsibility of the Australian financial services licensees who authorise financial advisers, said the corporate regulator.
“Authorised financial advisers should speak to their AFS licensees to ensure that they are on the register before the deadline. Financial advisers can check if they are already registered by visiting the Financial Advisers Register,” it said.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
