Wait continues for FAA detail

Advisers will get more detail of what will be expected of them under the new Financial Advisers Act, by the end of the year.

Wednesday, October 19th 2016, 6:00AM 4 Comments

by Susan Edmunds

Sharon Corbett

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's recommendations for the new version of the Act were revealed in July.

But there were still some things left unclear, such as whether there would be any transition arrangements to help advisers currently working in the industry to transition to the regime, and what the Code of Conduct might look like once all advisers must adhere to it.

It is the code that will dictate what qualifications advisers are required to hold, their ongoing competence requirements, ethical obligations and disclosure requirements.

It had been expected that some of that detail might have been made available by now.

But Sharon Corbett, principal adviser in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's financial markets commerce, consumers and communications branch, said work was continuing on the policy matters that were not included in the decisions made public in July and there was no further update at this stage.

"This includes transitional arrangements, complementary measures which could address misuse of the Financial Service Providers Register, the membership and proceedings of the Code Committee, and compliance and enforcement tools," she said.

"Later this year, once Government has made decisions on the above matters, we intend to release and consult on an exposure draft of the proposed legislation so we can address any potential issues with legislative drafting before it is introduced to Parliament. The current aim is for the Bill to be introduced in early 2017 after which the usual legislative process will follow."

It is expected, although not confirmed by MBIE, that the detailed exposure draft will now be made available around the end of November.

More details of the new Code of Conduct should be made available at the same time.

There will then be further consultation and testing with consumers and the industry before the Bill is introduced to the House.

Tags: Financial Advisers Act

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Comments from our readers

On 19 October 2016 at 8:55 am Brent Sheather said:

It’s interesting that the MBIE determines these things but does anyone wonder what qualifications and experience the MBIE personnel have. Certainly we have had our fair share of regulatory disasters in this space thus far.

For example Sharon Corbett is apparently a principal advisor at the MBIE. It would be interesting to know her qualifications. Is she the same Sharon Corbett that was a financial advisor at Westpac? Does everyone have to have worked at Westpac? Is this an advantage or disadvantage? Just asking.

On 19 October 2016 at 11:05 am Craig Simpson said:

Who cares what qualifications the people at MBIE have. I've seen some highly qualified people make some right stuff ups in my time.

On 19 October 2016 at 8:06 pm John Milner said:

Having never worked at Westpac or any other bank I guess the chances of a future position at MBIE are slim to none.

On 20 October 2016 at 5:33 pm gavin austin adviser business compliance said:

I am not sure of your background Craig and it's not often i agree with Brent but it is important to know what background a person has when they are involved in shaping the future compliance of Financial Services in NZ. Yes we all can make stuff ups but the risk of a stuff up from someone with no knowledge of a subject or experience is exponentially increased when the person is either not qualified or is largely ignorant of the issues being addressed. Having experienced this personally when I was at the FMA it is of concern that the people at MBIE are appropriately qualified.

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