Sovereign Insider Videos

We all have a massive year ahead of us.The watershed of tax legislation and regulatory changes will clearly reshape how our industry operates, and Sovereign is committed to providing you with the knowledge and skills you will need to successfully negotiate this major transition.

The Director-Supervision at the Securities Commission, Angus Dale-Jones stopped by the Sovereign offices recently to talk about the new regulatory regime, and what it all means. 

On October 13 2009, Commerce Minister Simon Power announced that the Government was proposing some changes to the Financial Advisers Ace ("FA Act"), with a particular focus on the qualifying financial entity ("QFE") regime.

The importance of customer disclosure has always been paramount, and in the new regulatory regime it will be just as important, therefore it’s vital that we ensure customers are well informed of what they need to disclose and why.

In Sovereign's third interview with Angus Dale-Jones he discusses the key differences between authorised financial advisers ('AFAs') and registered financial advisers ('RFAs').

In December, the Securities Commission released the 'QFE Adviser Business Statement Guide'.  The guide is useful for businesses looking to become qualifying financial entities (QFEs) and provides a framework for developing an adviser business statement, which a QFE will need on an ongoing basis.

Sovereign announced today a  new partnership with Open Polytechnic of New Zealand to provide integrated training solutions to help financial adviser obtain the government's new National Certificate in Financial Services.

Registrations are now open for free seminars for Companies Office clients and Financial Service Providers.

Over the past week a number of our advisers have approached us for guidance on membership of a dispute resolution scheme. We are in the process of reviewing a number of potential options. Until such time as schemes are approved by the Ministry of Economic Development and the final terms of reference are available, Sovereign is taking a prudent position and will not advise a preferred scheme.

On 31 March the Code Committee release the draft Code of Professional Conduct for Authorised Financial Advisers and has called for submissions.

Earlier this week The Companies Office announced that the Financial Services Providers register (FSPR) has been delayed from 31 May to 1 July. All individuals and entities in the business of providing a financial service in New Zealand will have to register on the FSPR. For more information visit the Companies Office website

Sovereign is paying for its key advisers to return to study, so they can get to grips with tough new regulations covering the insurance industry.

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.

Sovereign is cautioning advisers to resist the temptation to scale back their qualifications following a proposed easing of regulation requirements.

Sovereign would like to reassure advisers that we continue to work behind the scenes to influence the outcomes of the legislation and develop tools to support you to adapt to the new regime.