The two financial adviser organisations said they would be looking to collaborate more closely in the coming year to mitigate what could be a difficult year ahead.
In November, the Personal Finance Society (PFS) and the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA) signed a mutual agreement that they said will secure a “vital post-Brexit European foothold for the UK financial advisers”.
The agreement is aimed at offsetting the uncertainty created by Brexit on citizenship and products.
It will align the qualifications framework for the more than 30,000 PFS certified financial advisers with their counterparts across Europe.
UK advisers will be able to use the EFPA European qualification designation EFA or EFP from their 2018 renewal date onwards.
Positive collaboration
“There are still many uncertainties – political, economic and regulatory – never mind the specific business impact on financial advice,” Karim Zouhdi executive manager of EFPA told International Adviser.
“This positive collaboration gives UK advisers greater certainty in advance of Brexit, in the knowledge that the PFS qualifications framework is now recognised via the EFA and EFP European Financial Planning standards, which are accredited by many European regulators.
“The new link will ensure that consumers wishing to access advice from UK professionals, or maintain existing relationships in a post-Brexit environment, will in future be able to do so as part of an all-embracing quality standard all over Europe.”
In 2018, these new EFPA UK certificate holders will benefit from a deeper understanding of financial products, compliance under new European regulation such as Mifid II, and an increase in the value of professional training through certification, the organisations said.
These ‘new’ European advisers will also benefit from a continuing professional development program, which will allow professional mobility and mutual recognition in a growing list of 10 European countries.
The phase one Brexit deal struck between the UK and EU left concern and anger among the expat community earlier this month.
