Labor’s motion (moved by Senator Dastyari) to have the Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Future of Financial Advice) Regulation 2014 disallowed is scheduled to be considered by the Senate next Monday, 1 September 2014.
The regulation seeks to give effect to the Government’s proposed amendments to the FoFA legislation to implement its 2013 election commitments. The Regulation proposes to amend the Corporations Regulations 2001 to make a number of “interim” changes (applicable from 1 July 2014 until 31 December 2015), including:
- remove the “catch-all” requirement (s 961B(2)(g)) from the current list of 7 steps in s 961B(2) of the Corporations Act that an advice provider can take to prove that they have complied with the best interests duty in s 961B(1);
- remove the requirement for fee disclosure statements (FDS) to be sent to pre-1 July 2013 clients;
- remove of the “opt-in” requirement so that investors will not be required to renew their ongoing fee arrangement with their adviser every 2 years.
[LTN 167, 29/8/14]