Updating the Financial Advisers Register (FAR)

ASIC has contacted Australian financial service (AFS) licensees to update or clarify details for their financial advisers recorded on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) where those advisers have not passed the exam by 1 January 2022, and do not qualify for the extension to 1 October 2022. 

Under the Corporations Act 2001, AFS licensees are responsible for ensuring that details about their financial advisers on ASIC’s FAR are correct. Financial advisers who are existing providers were required to have passed the financial adviser exam by 1 January 2022 (unless they are eligible for the exam extension until 1 October 2022) in order to continue to be authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products (personal advice). More information about this can be found in Information Sheet 260 FAQs: Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam (INFO 260).  

Note: An ‘existing provider’ is an adviser who was authorised to provide personal advice at some point between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019, and who was not banned, disqualified or subject to an enforceable undertaking on 1 January 2019. On this webpage we refer to ‘existing providers’ as financial advisers.

In early April 2022, ASIC commenced a pilot contacting 45 AFS licensees to update or clarify details for 59 advisers. In response, 44 licensees have either updated advisers’ status to “ceased” on the FAR or have provided ASIC with proof that existing advisers remain eligible to be authorised. 

In May and June 2022, ASIC contacted 446 AFS licensees to update or clarify records for 734 advisers.  

It is critical that the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) is maintained to ensure that the public can reference accurate and up-to-date records when making decisions about whether to engage an adviser. ASIC may take action in relation to matters arising from this FAR review. 

ASIC will also undertake a similar process following the exam extension deadline of 1 October 2022 to ensure that licensees have met their responsibilities to update the FAR where required. 

There will be different outcomes for financial advisers who have not passed the financial adviser exam, depending on when their authorisation is ceased as set out in Table 3 of INFO 260, specifically:  

• Financial advisers whose authorisation to provide personal advice is ceased 30 September 2022 or earlier need to pass the financial adviser exam before they can be authorised to provide personal advice again. 
• Financial advisers whose authorisation to provide personal advice is ceased on 1 October by operation of the law are required to do the following before they can be authorised to provide personal advice again: 
  • pass the financial adviser exam 
  • complete the professional year, and 
  • meet the degree standard.