Australia-based The Advisers Association (TAA) has renewed its calls for major banks and institutions that have left or are intending to exit financial advice to pay their share of regulatory costs.
The call follows the publication of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (Asic) draft cost recovery implementation statement (CRIS) for 2020-21, which detailed that the Asic Adviser Levy is set to increase to A$3,138 (£1,665, $2,320, €1,952) per adviser.
Neil Macdonald, TAA chief executive, said: “Like others in the industry, we have grave concerns about the ever-increasing financial burden being imposed on small business advisers and ultimately their clients.
“At $3,138 per adviser, this would put the fee for those institutions at almost $10,000 per adviser. As we said earlier this year, expecting small business advisers and ultimately their clients to keep paying ever-increasing costs for the sins of the past, largely committed by the big end of town, is unconscionable.
“We understand that Asic’s hands are tied in relation to cost recovery, and we are not opposed to a user-pays model, however the users who caused the current regulatory cost burden are not being made to pay for it. By exiting advice, the big banks, despite being largely responsible for some of the poorest behaviours, are able to avoid paying.”
Earlier this year, TAA suggested imposing an exit fee on the major banks and institutions that have ditched their advice networks or are in the process of doing so. TAA suggested a fee calculated as a three-year multiple of the Asic Adviser Levy, per adviser, based on the institution’s adviser numbers, as at the date of the Hayne Royal Commission report.
