AFA News 28 October 2021. On Thursday 21 October 2021, the Senate passed the Better Advice Bill without amendment, which means that the Bill has now been passed by both Houses of Parliament and will come into force on 1 January 2022.  This provides greater clarity around the following outcomes:

• The Single Disciplinary Body will commence on 1 January 2022.
• FASEA will cease to exist from 1 January 2022, with the standard-setting function re-assigned to Treasury, and administration of the exam transferred to ASIC.
• Financial advisers will no longer need to be registered with the TPB from 1 January 2022, however will need to stay registered until the end of 2021.
• Enable the FASEA exam deadline to be extended into 2022 for eligible advisers.

There are many implications for financial advisers as a result of this legislation.  We are now also waiting for the finalisation of the regulations that will provide the following:

• The matters ASIC must refer to a Financial Services and Credit Panel for assessment.
• The sanctions that must be recorded on the Financial Adviser Register.
• The education standard and ongoing CPD requirement for tax (financial) advisers.
• The formalisation of the exam deadline extension to 30 September 2022 for all advisers who have had at least 2 attempts by the end of 2021.

We would expect these regulations to be finalised over the next month and we will hold a Regulatory Update webinar before the end of the year to prepare members for the key changes that will come into play at the start of 2022.

Please email policy@afa.asn.au for any questions with the Better Advice Bill or regulations.

Issued 28.10.2021. AFA Policy & Education Update

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