Your obligations when giving financial advice

To provide financial product advice, you must be authorised by an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee that has the necessary licence authorisations that apply to your advice business. There are different obligations placed on individual advisers and AFS licensees so it is essential you understand the capacity in which you are providing financial services.

You provide a financial service if (among other things) you:

• ‘provide financial product advice,’ or
• ‘deal in a financial product’.

Arranging for a person to engage in certain conduct, such as applying for or acquiring a financial product, will constitute dealing unless it amounts to providing financial product advice or is exempt.

If you provide a financial service you need to consider whether you must hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence or hold an authorisation from a licensee.

For more information, see Regulatory Guide 36 Financial product advice and dealing (RG 36)