Code will hold: Dale-Jones

Financial advisers’ code of conduct is designed to be effective at any stage – so it will not be a problem for its implementation to be pushed back further, the chairman of the Code Working Group says.

Sunday, April 19th 2020, 8:46PM

Angus Dale-Jones

The group consulted on a draft code of conduct in late 2018, which was submitted to the Commerce Minister in March last year. It was set to take effect in June, when the new licensing regime began.

But that has since been pushed back to March 2021, at the earliest, as part of the Government’s efforts to ease the regulatory burden on businesses dealing with Covid-19.

Code Working Group chairman Angus Dale-Jones said it would not be a problem to have the code on ice for now.

“The next real step with the code is to see how it works in practice.

“For AFAs currently complying with the FAA code, there should be no huge surprises in being ready for the new code, whenever it takes effect.

“For businesses not yet regulated, this is an ideal extended opportunity to start getting systems, processes and conduct attitudes ready for the new regime, and to properly test – and evidence – their effectiveness.

“In particular – and this applies to everyone going into the new regime – treating clients fairly and choosing appropriate continuing professional development pathways are both concepts that generally require careful reflection, preparation and ongoing evaluation/adjustment. To be effective, they cannot just be templated solutions.”

He said it was good to hear conversations moving away from advisers achieving the level five qualification baseline and more towards developing meaningful, tailored professional development programmes for individual businesses.

It was fortunate for the code committee that it had done its consultation with the industry while it was still able to do so in person, he said.

“I am extremely pleased that we were able to run so many consultation sessions face-to-face. Teleconferences would just not have produced the same quality interaction and input from everyone.”

Tags: Angus Dale-Jones Code regulation