Tell MBIE what you think of regulation

Advisers are being asked to fill out a survey for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on what they think about regulation of the sector, as part of the review of the Financial Advisers Act.

Friday, March 13th 2015, 6:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

It contains 36 questions covering everything from the adviser’s age and ethnicity through to what benefits they have seen as a result of regulation.

Advisers are asked how effective developments such as the Code of Professional Conduct for AFAs, disputes resolution schemes and the FMA have been in building consumer confidence.

They are also asked whether they think there should be a set minimum standard for non-authorised financial advisers to enter the industry and whether the current requirements for authorised financial advisers are sufficient.

IFA chief executive Fred Dodds said the survey was a positive thing. “I applaud MBIE in particular for saying this is a huge review and rather than sitting behind our desks doing it from a straight technical perspective, we’ll get out there.”

He said several adviser businesses within IFA had been visited. “They’re doing their best to say this is about financial advisers and we need to get closer to the action. I think they’re doing all the right things. They can never design a survey that’s going to fit everyone. This is another way of collecting the information.”

IFA president Michael Dowling said the organisation was encouraging its members to fill it out. “We’ve said a number of times that MBIE is asking for input from advisers and there’s no better opportunity to be giving your views. That will feed into how they come up with the regulation.”

Robert Oddy, of SiFA said it was not clear what MBIE was trying to obtain. He said MBIE had come to the conclusion that they did not know much about the adviser market. “This is one attempt at knowing more.”

He said the review so far was providing advisers’ first chance to engage properly with the regulation. Oddy said the first version of the Act was pushed through and advisers were not able to get a look in.

“That they’re talking to a wider range of people and looking at the issues is great, anything that helps them understanding the advice sector and what benefit it offers consumers should be applauded. We keep our fingers crossed that it keeps on going along these lines.”

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE

Tags: Financial Advisers Act IFA MoBIE regulation