ASIC is extending the date by which financial advisers must be registered to 1 February 2024, due to the relevant legislation being stalled in Parliament.
The registration requirement is separate from the existing requirement for an AFSL to appoint a financial adviser that they authorise to ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register.
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 Hayne royal commission.
Registration was proposed to occur in two stages – stage one being a one‑off registration process administered by ASIC using the FAR, and the second stage which would commence once the FAR transitions to the ATO as part of the Australian Business Registry Service.
On 1 November 2022, the government announced 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.
The Stage 1 improvements were introduced by the government on 16 February 2023 into Parliament, but has since announced delays to 1 October and now 1 February.
A further extension to the registration requirement will allow additional 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
- AFSLs to understand the registration requirement and to make necessary applications to register their relevant providers with ASIC.