Financial Advisers Register

The Financial Advisers Register is published on the Moneysmart website and is managed by ASIC.

The Register is a public record of financial advisers who provide personal advice on complex financial products to consumers. It allows consumers to:

check that a financial adviser is authorised to provide financial advice
check that a financial adviser is registered to provide financial advice
find information about an adviser before getting financial advice from them.

The Register also improves:

the ability to assess the qualifications, experience and employment history of financial advisers
ASIC's ability to identify and monitor financial advisers in Australia.

Who is on the Register

The Financial Advisers Register lists all individuals who are authorised and registered to provide advice as a financial adviser.

The definition of a financial adviser is an individual who is:

an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee, an authorised representative, employee or director of an AFS licensee, or an employee or director of a related body corporate of an AFS licensee
authorised to provide personal advice in relation to relevant financial products to retail clients (consumers).

'Relevant financial products' do not include:

basic banking products
general insurance products
consumer credit insurance
a combination of any of those products.

A financial adviser who has their own AFS licence is listed on:

the Financial Advisers Register, and
the AFS Licensees Register.

A financial adviser who is also an authorised representative is listed on:

the Financial Advisers Register, and
the Authorised Representatives Register.

Who is not on the Register

Advisers who do not meet the 'financial adviser' definition above are not on the Financial Advisers Register. For example, the following people are not on the Register:

a person who provides general advice
a person who provides personal advice on products that are not relevant financial products, such as general insurance, consumer credit insurance or basic banking products.

If this person is an authorised representative for an AFS licensee, then they are listed on the Authorised Representatives Register.

If an AFS licence is held by a company, the company is not listed on the Register. Only individual financial advisers with their own AFS licence or authorised as a financial adviser under an AFS licence are listed.

Who updates the Register

While ASIC manages the Financial Advisers Register, it is the AFS licensees' responsibility to add and update information on the Register. It is a breach of their obligations not to do so and penalties may apply.

AFS licensees can authorise other persons to update the Register on their behalf. See Who updates the Financial Advisers Register for more information.

Information on the Register

The Financial Advisers Register provides information about financial advisers, including:

name
work history
qualifications and training
financial products they can advise on.

See the full list of information on the Financial Advisers Register, including what is mandatory or optional.

Fees for updating the Register

Fees apply to appoint (add), register, maintain (update) or remove (cease) financial advisers from the Financial Advisers Register.

See Fees to update the Financial Advisers Register for a full list of fees.

When to update the Register

AFS licensees must update the Financial Advisers Register when:

they authorise a financial adviser
a financial adviser no longer works under their licence
a financial adviser's details change – for example, their name, qualifications or financial products they can advise on.

AFS licensees must update the Register within 30 business days.

When to register a financial adviser

An AFS licensee can apply to register a financial adviser after it has appointed the financial adviser to the Financial Advisers Register.

ASIC will record the financial adviser’s registration on the Register. For more information about registering financial advisers, see Information Sheet 276 FAQs: Registration of relevant providers (INFO 276).

How to update the Register

You can update the Financial Advisers Register using ASIC Connect.

For more information, see:

Reporting inaccuracies on the Register

If you are concerned about the accuracy of information on the Financial Advisers Register, see Disputes about the Financial Advisers Register.

ASIC