Sophie Grace Compliance and Legal manager of licensing and compliance Alicia Pevely said the new professional adviser standards require advisers to complete 40 hours of CPD each year and have at least 70 per cent of the CPD activity approved by their licensee.
Advisers must maintain records of their CPD activities and provide records of their CPD activities to their licensee.
“All licensees have until 31 March 2019 to publish their CPD training policy on their website and ensure CPD training plans for all relevant providers are in place,” Ms Pevely warned.
With the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) yet to approve any CPD activities or providers in their CPD policy at this stage, for now, it is up to licensees to make an assessment as to whether the CPD activity is appropriate, Ms Pevely.
“Licensees will need to consider the level of expertise of the provider and the facilitator, the level and type of learning undertaken, the learning outcomes and volume of time in undertaking the activity and the approach for verification of learning outcomes achieved,” she said.
FASEA has set minimum CPD hour requirements for specific categories including technical competence, client care and practice, regulatory compliance and consumer protection, and professionalism and ethics, Ms Pevely explained.
“Licensees and their [advisers] will need to look at a range of CPD activities, beyond industry conferences, to ensure the minimum hour requirements are met,” she said.
Confirmed today via FPA webinar that the FPA have had legal advice and clarified with FASEA that it has to be published on an intranet if they have one and make it available to relevant providers.
#standdownforcomplianceprofessionals#, I will #standingupforcomplianceprofessionals# when they can get it right and not scare monger and create unnecessary cost, stress and general stupidity.
FASEA’s ‘FPS004 – Continuing Professional Development Policy’ on page 7, sun heading ‘Transition” only states that Licensee’s have to publish their policy prior to 31 March 2019.
It does not state that this document has to be published on the licensee’s website.
You are compliance professionals, please get it right.
I’d look at the source document – Corporations (Relevant Providers Continuing Professional Development Standard) Determination 2018 rather than a summary before hurling accusations. But that’s just me. Funnily enough, when I look at the source document, paragraph 5 of section 5 of the legilation says this ‘(5) Each licensee must publish its CPD policy, including as amended, on its website, and must ensure that the policy is accessible by relevant providers for whom it is the responsible licensee.’ #standingupforcomplianceprofessionals#
Of course only a compliance professional and academics would make stupid rules like that!
No one will post on a public website their internal policies and procedures, maybe on an intranet if one exists for that relevant provider.
There is no law that I am aware of that states that any business or AFSL holder is required to have a website. What then? What about self licensed advisers that does not have a dedicated AFSL website?