The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has reinstated a list of Authorised Financial Advisers (AFA) on its website after a media report prompted industry concerns.
After refurbishing its website late in March, the FMA removed the AFA list, redirecting interested parties to the Financial Services Providers Register (FSPR) for further information.
However, a spokesperson for the FMA said after considering industry feedback the regulator has republished the AFA list on its own site pending upgrades to the FSPR.
“I understand some improvements are underway for the FSPR search function,” the spokesperson said. “In the meantime we’ll keep the list on our site and manually update it as required.”
However, the regulator includes a warning that the AFA list is compiled “from external sources and the FMA does not guarantee the accuracy of the information”.
“The obligation for updating AFA details on the [FSPR] is the responsibility of the AFA, not the FMA,” the regulator’s website says.
Meanwhile, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched its “enhanced” financial adviser register at the end of March.
The register, agreed to as part of controversial deal struck in the Australian Senate last year, “allows consumers to check whether a financial adviser is authorised to provide financial advice”.
“It also gives employers a greater ability to assess the suitability of an adviser,” ASIC says. “Information about a financial adviser’s qualifications, training and professional memberships will be added to the register in June 2015.”