Registration of relevant providers: Guidance on making declarations

Note: If you are an AFS licensee who is a self-licensed relevant provider, see Question 3.

As the registering AFS licensee, you must declare whether you have received a declaration from the relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice.

• If you have not received a declaration from the relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, you must declare: ‘I have not received a declaration from the relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products’. The application to register the relevant provider will not proceed.
• If you have received a declaration from your relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, you must declare: ‘I have received a declaration from the relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products’.

As the registering AFS licensee, you are not required to comment on the factors that went into the relevant provider’s assessment of their fitness and propriety to provide personal advice.

Information for relevant providers making this declaration to their registering AFS licensee

Relevant providers must make a declaration to their registering AFS licensee that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice. Without this declaration, the registering AFS licensee cannot declare that it has ‘received a declaration from the relevant provider that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products’, and the application for registration will not proceed.

In making this declaration, relevant providers must take into account the matters set out in Question 4.

The form of the declaration given by the relevant provider to the AFS licensee is a matter for the relevant provider and their registering AFS licensee to determine. There is no prescribed form.

Note: If you are an AFS licensee who is a self-licensed relevant provider, see Question 3.

As the registering AFS licensee, you must declare whether you are aware of any reason why the relevant provider might not be a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, taking into account the matters set out in Question 4.

You must consider all the information you hold about the relevant provider at the time you make the declaration. You are not required to undertake further investigations before making this declaration.

Making a declaration that you are aware of reasons why a relevant provider may not be fit and proper is not a reason for ASIC to refuse to register the relevant provider.

If you declare that you are aware of a reason why the relevant provider might not be a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, you will have an opportunity to provide further details in the application process. You are not required to explain your reasons when completing the registration application form.

To be registered with ASIC, self-licensed relevant providers must make a declaration that they are a fit and proper person to provide personal advice.

As a self-licensed relevant provider, you must take into account all the information you hold at the time you make the declaration, including the matters set out in Question 4.

If you declare that you are not a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, your registration application will not proceed.

When making a declaration about whether the relevant provider is a fit and proper person to provide personal advice, the person making the declaration must consider all relevant matters they are aware of. This includes whether the relevant provider has:

• had an AFS licence, an Australian credit licence, or a registration under the National Consumer Credit Protection (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2009 (National Credit Act) suspended or cancelled
• ever had a banning or disqualification order under Division 8B of Part 7.6 of the Corporations Act, or a banning or disqualification order under Part 2-4 of the National Credit Act, made against them
• ever been disqualified under the Corporations Act, or any other law of the Commonwealth or of a state or territory, from managing a corporation
• ever been banned from engaging in a credit activity (within the meaning of the National Credit Act) under a law of a state or territory
• ever been linked to a refusal or failure to give effect to a determination made by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (within the meaning of section 910C of the Corporations Act)
• ever been an insolvent under administration
• been convicted of an offence in the last 10 years
• been the subject of an instrument made by the Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) in the last 10 years
• received an infringement notice from the FSCP (unless the infringement notice was withdrawn) in the last 10 years, or
• been the subject of any other matter prescribed by the Corporations Regulations 2001.

It is a matter for AFS licensees to determine whether the relevant provider is fit and proper to provide personal advice based on the matters they are aware of at the time they make the declaration.

Making professional standards declarations

Regardless of whether the application is being submitted by an AFS licensee or a self-licensed relevant provider, every application for registration must contain declarations about the relevant provider’s compliance with the professional standards requirements.

Note: The content of these declarations will depend on whether the person being registered is a relevant provider, a time-share adviser, a relevant provider who is relying on the experienced provider pathway, or a relevant provider who is also an existing provider. You may need to make inquiries with the relevant provider you are applying to register to ensure that you make the appropriate declarations, and that the declarations are accurate.

This includes declarations about:

• education and training standards (see Question 5, Question 6, and Question 7), and
• the provision of tax (financial) advice services (see Question 8).

To meet the qualifications standard, a relevant provider must have completed an approved degree or an equivalent qualification approved by the Minister, or a foreign qualification approved by the Minister.

A list of approved degrees and qualifications is contained in the Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021.

Relevant providers who are relying on the experienced provider pathway

A relevant provider can rely on the experienced provider pathway to meet the qualifications standard if they meet the criteria of an ‘experienced provider’ (see the definition of an experienced provider in ‘Who is a relevant provider?’ above). A relevant provider who did not pass the financial adviser exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to them, but was still authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products on their exam cut-off day cannot rely on the experienced provider pathway, even if they have subsequently passed the exam.

Note: The exam cut-off day is either 1 January 2022 or 1 October 2022 for relevant providers who qualified for the exam extension.

To access the experienced provider pathway, a relevant provider must make a written declaration confirming that they satisfy the definition of an experienced provider. The relevant provider should provide you as the authorising AFS licensee with a copy of their declaration.

If your application is for a relevant provider who is relying on the experienced provider pathway, you should only declare that the qualifications standard has been met if you have verified that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway by meeting the criteria in Table 1.

Table 1: How to verify that a person is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway

If you are not satisfied that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, you must consider whether the relevant provider meets the qualifications standard on another basis. See the following sections for details about relevant providers who are not relying on the experienced provider pathway.

Note: From 1 July 2024, the authorising AFS licensee(s) of an experienced provider are required to separately notify ASIC via the appoint (add) and maintain (update) function on ASIC Connect that they have received a copy of a written declaration by lodging a notice, where the relevant provider from whom they have received the declaration is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway. See Information Sheet 281 Accessing the experienced provider pathway (INFO 281) for further guidance on this requirement.

Relevant providers who are not existing providers and are not relying on the experienced provider pathway

From 1 January 2019, all relevant providers who are not existing providers and are not relying on the experienced provider pathway are required to have complied with the qualifications standard before they can be authorised to provide personal advice. If the relevant provider has obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has been met. If the relevant provider has not obtained an approved degree, you must declare that the qualifications standard has not been met and the registration application will not proceed.

Relevant providers who are existing providers but are not relying on the experienced provider pathway

If your application is for an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway, you will need to consider how the professional standards apply to that person: see Table 2.

Table 2: How the qualifications standard applies to an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway

Note: For more information on how the professional standards apply to existing providers, see Information Sheet 260 Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam (INFO 260) and Applying the professional standards.

Time-share advisers

Time-share advisers are not required to comply with the professional standards for relevant providers. As such, if the relevant provider you are applying to register is a time-share adviser, you must state that the qualifications standard does not apply.

To meet the exam standard, a relevant provider must have passed the financial adviser exam.

Relevant providers who are not time-share advisers

All relevant providers (except for time-share advisers) must have passed the financial adviser exam to be eligible to be registered.

If the relevant provider you are applying to register has passed the financial adviser exam, you must declare that they have met the exam standard. Otherwise, you must declare that they have not met the exam standard and the registration application will not proceed.

Time-share advisers

Time-share advisers are not required to comply with the professional standards for relevant providers. As such, if the relevant provider you are applying to register is a time-share adviser, you must state that the exam standard does not apply.

Generally, to meet the professional year standard, a relevant provider must have completed a professional year over the course of at least one year consisting of a minimum of 1,600 total hours experience, of which at least 100 hours was structured training. In addition, the relevant provider must have received a final completion certificate from their supervisor and authorising AFS licensee in accordance with the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018, which sets out the requirements that apply to the professional year.

Relevant providers who are relying on the experienced provider pathway

A relevant provider can rely on the experienced provider pathway to meet the professional year standard if they meet the criteria of an ‘experienced provider’ (see the definition of an experienced provider in ‘Who is a relevant provider?’ above). A relevant provider who did not pass the financial adviser exam by the exam cut-off day that applies to them, but was still authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products on their exam cut-off day cannot rely on the experienced provider pathway, even if they have subsequently passed the exam.

To access the experienced provider pathway, a relevant provider must make a written declaration confirming that they satisfy the definition of an experienced provider. The relevant provider should provide you as the authorising AFS licensee with a copy of their declaration.

If your application is for a relevant provider who is relying on the experienced provider pathway, you should only declare that the professional year standard has been met if you have verified that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway by meeting the criteria in Table 3.

Table 3: How to verify that a person is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway

If you are not satisfied that the relevant provider is eligible to rely on the experienced provider pathway, you must consider whether the relevant provider meets the professional year standard on another basis. See the following sections for details about relevant providers who are not relying on the experienced provider pathway.

Note: From 1 July 2024, the authorising AFS licensee(s) of an experienced provider are required to separately notify ASIC via the appoint (add) and maintain (update) functions on ASIC Connect that they have received a copy of a written declaration by lodging a notice, where the relevant provider from whom they have received the declaration is eligible to access the experienced provider pathway. See Information Sheet 281 Accessing the experienced provider pathway (INFO 281) for further guidance on this requirement.

Relevant providers who are not existing providers and are not relying on the experienced provider pathway

From 1 January 2019, relevant providers (except for time-share advisers) who are not existing providers and not relying on the experienced provider pathway are required to have completed a professional year that meets the professional year standard before they can be authorised to provide personal advice. If the relevant provider has completed the professional year, you must declare that the professional year standard has been met. If the relevant provider has not completed the professional year, you must declare that the professional year standard has not been met and the registration application will not proceed.

Relevant providers who are existing providers but are not relying on the experienced provider pathway

If your application is for an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway, you will need to consider how the professional year standard applies to that person: see Table 4.

Table 4: How the professional year standard applies to an existing provider who is not relying on the experienced provider pathway

Note:For more information on how the professional standards apply to existing providers, see Information Sheet 260 Timeframe for passing the financial adviser exam (INFO 260) and Applying the professional standards.

Time-share advisers

Time-share advisers are not required to comply with the professional standards for relevant providers. As such, if the relevant provider you are applying to register is a time-share adviser, you should state that the professional year standard does not apply.

If the relevant provider you are applying to register currently provides, or will provide, tax (financial) advice services, they must meet the definition of a qualified tax relevant provider.

Who is a qualified tax relevant provider?

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

• is a registered tax agent, and/or
• has met the requirements, if any, made by the Minister pursuant to section 921BB of the Corporations Act – these requirements are currently set out in the Relevant Providers Determination.

Generally, the Relevant Providers Determination requires relevant providers to have completed specified courses in commercial law and taxation law. Importantly, relevant providers who meet the following criteria are exempt, either permanently or temporarily, from having to complete the specified courses and are taken to be qualified tax relevant providers.

Table 5: Circumstances under which relevant providers are exempt from having to complete the specified courses and taken to be qualified tax relevant providers

Note: For more information, see Information Sheet 268 Relevant providers who provide tax (financial) advice services (INFO 268).

Completing declarations about the provision of tax (financial) advice services

You will need to consider how the circumstances in Table 6 apply to your declaration about the relevant provider you are registering.

Table 6: How the relevant provider’s circumstances apply to the tax (financial) advice services declaration

Note: A relevant provider’s ability to provide tax (financial) advice services is not recorded on the Financial Advisers Register when declarations about the provision of tax (financial) advice services are completed as part of an application for registration. This is captured in the appoint (add) and maintain (update) functions on ASIC Connect. There is no cost to update this information for the first time. It is the responsibility of AFS licensees to ensure that the information recorded on the Financial Advisers Register is correct. For further information, see Information Sheet 268 Relevant providers who provide tax (financial) advice services (INFO 268).