The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has released the content of a new Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services that should come into effect in mid-2020. The Code will require those persons who provide regulated financial advice to retail clients to meet certain standards of professional conduct, and will follow the commencement of the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019 ("FSLA").
The Code follows the Code Working Group's task of developing a draft Code, in consultation with the Minister, the Financial Markets Authority and relevant members of the financial advice industry.
The Code is separated into two areas and focuses on duties surrounding:
1. Standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care required; and
2. Standards of competence, knowledge and skill (including any continuing professional development ("CPD")
requirements).
The standards in relation to ethical behaviour, conduct and client care require those who give financial advice to:
1. Always treat clients fairly;
2. Always act with integrity;
3. Ensure that the financial advice is suitable for the client and in regard to the nature and scope of the financial
advice;
4. Take reasonable steps to ensure the client understands financial advice; and
5. Take reasonable steps to protect the client information he has lost and authorised access use modification with
disclosure.
The standards surrounding competence, knowledge and skill require those who give financial advice to act as follows:
While the introduction of the Code is some time away, it is important that those who provide regulated financial advice to retail clients take heed of its requirements. Businesses will have at least six months to get a transitional licence, and a further two years to become fully licensed and meet the competency requirements.
Furthermore, certain people may need to complete further relevant qualifications to comply with part 2 of the competency aspects of this code – including the completion of a new National Certificate in financial services (regulated by NZQA). Those persons who are authorised financial advisors immediately before the commencement of the Code should not need to requalify, but will need to ensure that they have practices in place to manage CPD both individually and within a business. Please click here for access to the Code.
Please contact one of our team if you require our advice as to whether you are covered by the Code and what steps you may need to take to ensure compliance with the Code, or with the FSLA or FMCA more generally.
© McVeagh Fleming 2019
This article is published for general information purposes only. Legal content in this article is necessarily of a general nature and should not be relied upon as legal advice. If you require specific legal advice in respect of any legal issue, you should always engage a lawyer to provide that advice.