Support from the Parliament on grandfathering arrangements under the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms along with technical amendments is a sensible outcome the Financial Services Council said today.
Andrew Bragg, FSC director of policy said: “The bipartisan agreement provides certainty and stability for small businesses in the financial advice industry.”
“It means that small financial advice practices will not lose value during when businesses are sold. It will also assist sustainability for advice businesses while they transition to new business models.”
“This is good news for small businesses as they will not be subject to unfair, retrospective losses,” Mr Bragg said.
“The agreement restores the prospective nature of the FoFA grandfathering rules.
“Structural reform of any industry must always be prospective. It is the hallmark of good policymaking.”
“It also alleviates some of the cost and disruption caused by policy changes made without warning when businesses were operating within the law.”
“The Government and Opposition are to be congratulated for reaching a sensible agreement on FoFA.”
“The industry can now transition to the new FoFA laws with certainty,” Mr Bragg said.
FoFA regulations released by the Parliament today include:
1. Grandfathering arrangements which allow financial advice businesses to be sold without losing considerable value
2. An exemption to ensure education and training is not treated as conflicted remuneration; and
3. Exemption of stamping fees from the FOFA regime.
