Pathway to compliance announced
30/04/2010
Wednesday night, Simon Power, the Government Minister overseeing impending regulation of the financial services, announced that advisers will be given extra time to fully comply with the regulatory regime.
Authorised Financial Advisers (AFA’s) now have until 30 June 2011 to have their applications for Authorisation processed by the Securities Commission, and to reach the required minimum levels of competency, knowledge and skill set out in the Code of Professional Conduct.
Advisers are still required to register and be a member of an approved dispute resolution scheme by 1 December 2010. Applications for Authorisation as an AFA also must be with the Securities Commission by December.
Notwithstanding the introduction of the “pathway to compliance”, Sovereign believes that it is in advisers’ best interests to continue with your preparations to meet your regulatory obligations. This includes training, reviewing your processes and documentation as appropriate and gaining a good understanding of the legislation and Code of Professional Conduct. Getting ready now will put you ahead of the pack and ensure you avoid the inevitable bottlenecks that will occur once full implementation draws closer.
Once further details of this extension are available, we will update you via Sovereign Insider