The Financial Services Legislation Amendment Bill passed through Parliament yesterday afternoon.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister, Kris Faafoi, said, “The changes we will now put in place through this legislation are designed to make it easier for people to get advice, to better understand their options, and to ensure advice is of a consistent quality”.
“Financial advisers will be required to prioritise the customer interest, meaning their foremost consideration when recommending a product is how well it meets their customer’s needs,” he added.
“This will help address the problem of some advisers being incentivised to recommend a particular product because it has a higher commission attached to it.”
Faafoi added he expects to finalise the Code of Conduct in the coming months.
Regulations are also expected to be made by Q2 2019. Following this, transitional licensing applications are set to open by Q4 2019.
MBIE and the FMA released a timeline (click here) to help advisers keep track of the critical dates along the way to the 2022 finish line.
The FMA also recently released a chart to help advisers decide on their direction under the new regime (click here).