The law should be amended to establish a new disciplinary system for financial advisers that:
- requires all financial advisers who provide personal financial advice to retail clients to be registered;
- provides for a single, central, disciplinary body;
- requires AFSL holders to report ‘serious compliance concerns’ to the disciplinary body; and
- allows clients and other stakeholders to report information about the conduct of financial advisers to the disciplinary body.
Government Response
The Government agrees to introduce a new disciplinary system for financial advisers.
The Government is committed to the professionalisation of the financial advice industry. A new disciplinary regime as recommended by the Royal Commission further builds on the Government’s earlier reforms in this area that introduced mandatory educational requirements and required advisers to pass an entrance exam, comply with a code of ethics, and meet ongoing professional development requirements.
The new disciplinary system will bring financial advisers into line with other professions — such as lawyers, doctors and accountants — where individual registration is standard practice.
This disciplinary system for financial advisers will operate concurrently with the existing AFSL regime and ASIC will retain the powers it has under the current regulatory framework, including the power to commence investigations and undertake enforcement action.