The Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (ASIC) has extended the deadline for registration of financial advisers providing services to retail clients to 1 October 2023.
The official announcement noted that this extension of the registration requirement would allow the Australian Parliament to consider improvements proposed by the Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2023.
Additionally, the Aussie regulator will help the financial advice industry to understand the new requirements and comply with them by issuing a new regulatory guidance and conducting webinars. Further, Australian financial service (AFS) licensees will gain more time to understand the registration requirements.
ASIC stated:
The registration requirement is new. It is separate, and in addition to, the pre-existing requirements for an AFS licensee to appoint a relevant provider to the Financial Advisers Register after they have been authorised. Provisional Relevant Providers cannot be registered.
The requirement for registration of financial advisers was introduced in 2021 in response to growing misconduct. The deadline for registration was extended until 1 July 2023to allow certain improvements in these requirements.
ASIC recently banned “ASX Wolf” Tyson Scholz from giving financial advice, prohibiting him from carrying out any financial services business in Australia. Scholz gave courses and workshops in trading ASX-listed equities and had 20,00 followers on private online forums and Instagram to who he offered stock trading advice and had no license. To lure in participants for his seminars, he posted images of a luxurious lifestyle.
