The government has moved to clarify the FOFA amendment relating to opt-in.

The amendment, as seen by Financial Standard this afternoon, states:

Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011

Schedule 1, item 10, page 8 (after line 19), at the end of Subdivision A, add:

ASIC may exempt a person, or a class of persons, from section 962K (the opt-in requirement), if ASIC is satisfied that the person is, or persons of that class are, bound by a code of conduct approved by ASIC for the purposes of this section.

The government said a code of conduct is approved by ASIC in relation to opt-in if:
(a) the code of conduct is approved by ASIC under section 1101A; and
(b) ASIC is satisfied that the code of conduct obviates the need for persons bound by the code to be bound by the opt-in requirement; and
(c) ASIC is satisfied of any other matters prescribed by the regulations.

The exemption must also be in writing and the regulator must publish notice of it in the Gazette.

Minister Shorten's office informed Financial Standard it will also issue a release when the bill is passed.