Actions taken and achievements gained

Actions taken and achievements gained on your behalf by SAFAA during your last membership year

 

  • additional time to sit and pass the FASEA exam
  • a waiver of the three-month registration requirement so that advisers who fail the September FASEA exam can sit the November exam
  • relief from unsustainable increases in the ASIC funding levy for the financial advice sector, with a freeze of the ASIC levy at 2018/19 levels for two years
  • a review of the ASIC industry funding model
  • a reasonable approach from ASIC to regulatory compliance in our industry that takes into account the multiple regulatory reforms coming into effect in October 2021 and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns
  • removal of the ‘nil complaints’ reporting requirement for distributors under the Design and Distribution Obligations regime
  • confirmation of SAFAA members as ‘essential services’ during lockdowns.

We have

  • lodged 29 submissions to ASIC, Treasury, ASX, FASEA, TPB, AFCA, Parliament and other stakeholders
  • attended over 75 government and stakeholder meetings and roundtables and
  • given evidence to three Parliamentary committees.

SAFAA has also:

  • engaged with industry on how best to provide access to affordable advice
  • continued to advocate for the exclusion of complaints from wholesale clients from AFCA’s jurisdiction
  • engaged with ASX on the CHESS replacement project
  • engaged with ASIC on the November 2020 ASX market outage
  • continued to challenge Standards 3 and of the FASEA Code of Ethics.

Professional development

  • regular free webinars to meet FASEA and TPB CPD requirements and keep up to date with regulatory changes
  • a hybrid conference geared to the issues of relevance to our members both in terms of current regulatory challenges and future trends that will shape business models.
  • CPD in those hard-to-achieve FASEA categories of Client care and practice and Professionalism and ethics
  • professional development workshops developed to ensure the practical application of new skills and knowledge