Regs wait for Commissioner

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The progress of financial advisory regulations appears to have stalled with the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) yet to name the Commissioner of Financial Advisers.

Friday, March 27th 2009, 5:10AM

by David Chaplin

As reported in ASSET magazine earlier this month, the MED has extended its search for a Commissioner after rejecting over 30 applicants for the crucial position.

The MED confirmed that it “has not yet filled that position” despite advertising the original close-off date for applications of November 17 last year.

Following on from the ASSET story, the National Business Review reported yesterday that the MED had hired Wellington recruitment firm Bell McCaw Bampfylde to continue the search for a Commissioner.

Industry sources have told Good Returns that the Commissioner was expected to be appointed by March at the latest if the MED was to make the early 2010 deadline for implementation of the regulations required to govern the Financial Advisers Act, which passed into law last September.

The drafting of the advisory regulations to a large extent depends on the appointment of the Commissioner of Financial Advisers who will be responsible for appointing the committee that will write the Code of Conduct – a key document in the regulatory process.

According to the Financial Advisers legislation, the Code of Conduct “will govern authorised financial advisers as well as be a basis for the discipline of the profession”.

It is understood the MED is leaning towards a person with more of a legal and/or regulatory background for the role of Commissioner rather than a financial planning practitioner.

In the meantime the industry steering committee working on the development of new disclosure documents that will be required under the new law has made some progress, a source close to the talks told Good Returns.

However, the source said there was a clear divide between those on the committee who wanted disclosure to be legalistic versus those who preferred a more user-friendly document.

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