Legally designated terms before Parliament

The bid to enshrine the terms financial planner and financial adviser in law is likely to face its first significant challenge this week in the House of Representatives.

While the discord over the last few days in Parliament has caused disruption and delay to the schedule, Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive Mark Rantall believes the proposed legislation could still be tabled by Friday.

“It’s been an interesting week, but we are hopeful,” said Rantall. “The timing will probably not permit voting but it may get through the house if it is seen as a non-contentious bill.”

The FPA does not expect the opposition to knock back the bill, but it is also unlikely to support it.

“The feedback we’ve had from a lot of members of Parliament is that there is no downside and a lot of upside for consumers, so they’d be very supportive of it,” said Rantall.

“Having said that, it is a matter for the cross-benchers, which we are hopeful we will receive support from, and obviously the Coalition.”

While Senator Mathias Cormann, the shadow minister for financial services and superannuation, has indicated he is unlikely to support the bill, the question remains whether he is going to oppose it.

Dante De Gori, general manager of policy and government relations at the FPA, believes there are no real grounds to oppose the proposal.

However, with Cormann only recently returning to Parliament after paternity leave, the FPA expects to have another chance to impress its view on the senator before the vote.

The term financial planner is either restricted or is in the process of being restricted by respective laws governing Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.