AFA News 16 December 2020. The last sitting week of the 2020 year, proved to be a big week for financial advice in the Federal Parliament in Canberra. Maybe second only to the June sitting, which saw the passing of the extension to the FASEA deadlines. Much happened last week, and very quickly.
On Tuesday 8 December 2020, the Government introduced the Hayne Royal Commission recommendations around Annual Renewal, Disclosure of Lack of Independence and Advice Fees in Superannuation (Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill 2020). This Bill is sitting in the House and is yet to be debated. The same day we saw the House of Representatives pass another Hayne Royal Commission Bill (Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Bill 2020), being the one that addressed reference checking, breach reporting and claims handling licensing.
On Wednesday 9 December 2020, the Government announced plans for the establishment of the Single Disciplinary Body, including the upgrading of ASIC’s Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP). Through the transfer of some functions to the FSCP and others to Treasury, this announcement signalled the winding up of FASEA. It is important to note that FASEA was established by an Act of Parliament, and it will require a further Act to wind it up. Legislation to achieve this will be the subject of consultation in 2021. Nonetheless, FASEA will still exist for some time to come, and we will continue to work with FASEA on pursuing our ongoing advocacy agenda.
To round out the last Parliamentary sitting of the year, we saw the passing of the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Bill 2020 through the Senate on Thursday. A very busy week!
Issued 16.12.2020. AFA Policy & Education Update
