Leitch: FMA looks set to crack down
The Financial Markets Authority’s latest compliance focus report shows it will become less lenient with non-compliant advisers, says Peter Leitch, chairman of the Professional Advisers Association.
Wednesday, March 6th 2013, 10:19AM
by Susan Edmunds
It has outlined its priority areas for monitoring.
Among them are how advisers build consumer trust, industry standards in general, the effectiveness of existing and new regimes, and KiwiSaver.
FMA CEO Sean Hughes said it would give industry participants the chance to assess their activities and take steps to improve compliance.
But Leitch took issue with the FMA claim that it was looking forward to working in "constructive tension" with industry participants - “to bring about higher standards of conduct and compliance, while ensuring a proportionate regulatory approach”.
Leitch said: “I’m not convinced ‘constructive tension’ is the best way to be going about communicating and working with people. I don’t think that’s necessary.”
He said part of the problem was that they were having to deal with things that were not proportionate, such as the new anti-money laundering legislation.
Overall, Leitch said the document offered few surprises.
He said the tone seemed to be that advisers had had some time to get used to the new regulatory environment and learn about their obligations. Now, the FMA was expecting to see some results.
“What they are saying is that we are giving you time to be educated and to understand what’s required but we’re increasingly going to take action.”
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