Definitions that apply to personal advice providers

A relevant provider is commonly referred to as a ‘financial adviser’ within the financial advice industry. A ‘relevant provider’ is:

• an individual who is:
  • an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee, or
  • an authorised representative, employee or director of an AFS licensee (or an employee or director of an AFS licensee’s related body corporate), and
• authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients about relevant financial products.

To use the title financial adviser, financial planner or other similar term, an individual must:

• comply with the professional standards, and
• be authorised to give personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients.

An ‘existing provider’ is a person who:

• was a relevant provider at any time between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019, and
• on 1 January 2019, was not banned, disqualified or subject to a court enforceable undertaking that prevents them from providing personal advice or a financial service.

A person who provided financial advice in a foreign country can also be an existing provider in certain circumstances. For more information, see Foreign adviser below.

A person who provided financial advice in a foreign country is commonly referred to as a ‘foreign adviser’ within the financial advice industry. They will be recognised as an existing provider if they meet the conditions in subparagraph (b) of the definition of ‘existing provider’ in section 1546A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) – that is, they:

• provided personal advice (as defined in section 766B(3) of the Corporations Act) at any time between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019:
  • in a foreign country
  • to retail clients (as defined in sections 761G and 761GA of the Corporations Act. For more information on whether advice is provided to a retail client, see Regulatory Guide 175 AFS licensing: Financial product advisers – Conduct and disclosure (RG 175)), and
  • in relation to relevant financial products (as defined in section 910A of the Corporations Act), and
• were not prohibited under the law of the foreign country from providing such advice on 1 January 2019.

How AFS licensees can determine whether a foreign adviser is an ‘existing provider’

To determine whether a foreign adviser is an ‘existing provider’, an AFS licensee should ask the individual to provide evidence showing that they meet the conditions in subparagraph (b) of the definition of ‘existing provider’ in section 1546A of the Corporations Act.

All these elements must be satisfied for a foreign adviser to be recognised as an ‘existing provider’.

If a foreign adviser is unable to provide evidence that they satisfy some or all these elements of the definition of ‘existing provider’, the regulator of the relevant overseas jurisdiction may be contacted to obtain information about the person. Information about the person may also be publicly available on a register maintained by the overseas regulator.

If the information provided by the regulator about the foreign adviser is insufficient to evidence that the individual is an ‘existing provider’, the individual’s employers during the relevant period may be contacted to supplement the regulator’s information.

The information from the overseas regulator, and employers where relevant, should address each element in subparagraph (b) of the definition of ‘existing provider’ in section 1546A of the Corporations Act. If they do not adequately address each element, the person who provided financial advice in a foreign country will be considered a person training to become a relevant provider.

An ‘experienced provider’ is a person who:

• was a relevant provider for at least 10 years (that is, 3,650 days – whether consecutive or not) during the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2021, and
• had a clean disciplinary record as at 31 December 2021.

For these purposes, a ‘clean disciplinary record’ means that the person must not have:

• been banned or disqualified under Division 8 of Part 7.6 of the Corporations Act as in force at that time, or
• given an enforceable undertaking under section 93AA or section 171E of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 as in force at that time.

A ‘provisional relevant provider’ is a person training to become a relevant provider who is in their third or fourth quarter of their professional year who:

• has completed a bachelor or higher degree, or equivalent qualification, approved by the Minister. See Qualifications standard for more information
• has passed the financial adviser exam
• has completed the first and second quarters of the professional year, and
• is authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients.

A provisional relevant provider is commonly referred to as a ‘provisional financial adviser’ within the industry.

A provisional relevant provider may not be the same as a person training to become a relevant provider because they may not have yet completed a qualification, passed the financial adviser exam, completed the first and second quarters of the professional year or be authorised by an AFS licensee to provide personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients. A person training to become a relevant provider who is in the first or second quarter of their professional year is not a ‘provisional relevant provider’. A person training to become a relevant provider may also be referred to as a ‘new entrant’.

A ‘qualified tax relevant provider’ is a relevant provider who:

• is a registered tax agent, or
• has met the education and training requirements set out in the Corporations (Relevant Providers—Education and Training Standards) Determination 2021.

A limited-service time-sharing adviser is commonly referred to as a ‘time-share adviser’. A time share adviser is a relevant provider who only provides advice about time-share schemes.