ASIC will extend the date by which relevant providers – that is, financial advisers who provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products (including time share advisers) – must be registered. Relevant providers will now need to be registered by 1 October 2023.

A further delay to the registration requirement will allow time for:

• Parliament to consider the improvements proposed by the Bill;
• ASIC to assist the financial advice industry to understand and comply with the registration requirement by issuing regulatory guidance and conducting webinars; and
• Australian financial service (AFS) licensees to understand the registration requirement and to make necessary applications to register their relevant providers with ASIC.

The registration requirement is new. It is separate, and in addition to, the pre-existing requirements for an AFS licensee to appoint a relevant provider to the Financial Advisers Register after they have been authorised. Provisional Relevant Providers cannot be registered.

Background

The requirement for financial advisers to be registered was introduced by the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Act 2021, in response to Recommendation 2.10 of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

On 1 November 2022, Government announced that it would delay the financial adviser registration requirement until 1 July 2023 to allow certain improvements to be made to the Stage 1 registration requirement.

On 16 February 2023, Government introduced these improvements by way of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No.1) Bill 2023 (the Bill). On 9 March 2023, the Bill was referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report. The report is due by 2 June 2023.

ASIC is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.