ASIC approves professional code

08 March 2017

Jayson Forrest

Jayson Forrest is the managing editor of Money & Life Magazine.

In what is a significant milestone for the financial planning profession, ASIC has approved the FPA Professional Ongoing Fees Code, which provides FPA practitioner members with an alternative to the opt-in laws when engaging clients in an ongoing fee arrangement.

The Code, which is the first ever approved by the regulator, will be available from 1 July 2017. The Code provides practitioners with the opportunity to implement an ongoing fee arrangement that is more practical and appropriate for their clients and their business, while maintaining appropriate levels of protection for clients.

“To gain ASIC approval, codes must adopt higher standards than required by law, or in the case of an opt-in code, replace the need for compliance with a legal requirement, and represent a benefit to consumers,” FPA chief executive officer, Dante De Gori said.

The FPA has developed monitoring arrangements that will hold practitioners accountable to the Code. These arrangements will be overseen by an independent code administrator.

“The FPA Professional Ongoing Fees Code will enable FPA member businesses to apply the ‘fair engagement’ principle to ongoing fee arrangements with their clients,” De Gori said.

“The Code supports ongoing fee arrangements which are simple, transparent and fair. That’s good for consumers and it’s good for business.”

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