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Featured Profile
Blake Briggs
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL
FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL
Since becoming chief executive, Blake Briggs has renewed the Financial Services Council's influence, expanded the membership base, and strengthened its policy and advocacy credentials. Karren Vergara writes.
So, this Government is about to wind the clock back 25 years? The SOA requirements in the original Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act, which was legislated in 2000 with a two year transition, were drafted with a copy of the insurance CAR in mind.
How do I know? I applied for a Financial Services Licence under the new Chapter 7 back in 2002. I was familiar with the old CAR. I was pleasantly surprised to find some common sense in the new SOA rquirements.
Since then I have been increasingly gobsmacked and flabbergasted by the changes to SOA requirements - changes brought in by Governments, lawyers and public servants with no idea of what is really required in the process of providing advise.
Other areas of Chapter 7 have become as messy as the SOA requirements now are, because of the same lack of understanding.
And the outcome? Decimation of financial advice services and an underadvised population in Australia.
What next???
Well, I for one gave up financial advice a couple of years ago. And I'm not regretting it for one minute.
I rarely comment on issues however I must agree with the other comment here. It's more than 25 years of winding back the clock! In fact, I remember the CARs in the early 1990s.
How ironic we are right back where we started! And we will soon have a new form of adviser that can run amok and if it goes wrong rely on the "It was only General information/ Advice? provided" excuse! What was the point of all the study and gaining of qualifications?
Won't be long and every Industry Fund will be able to give advice over the phone with so called "qualified advisers" who have done no study and received a crash course on how to keep the business with THEIR FUND, regardless of better options.