44 apply for class DIMS

Just 44 applications had been made for a class DIMS licence by the May 31 deadline, the Financial Markets Authority has confirmed.

Wednesday, June 3rd 2015, 6:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

It had originally expected hundreds.

By the end of last month, advisers who wanted to continue to offer DIMS had to either apply for a class license or submit their updated ABS to be assessed for eligibility to offer personalised DIMS.

AFAs could opt to offer contingency DIMS without a license in limited circumstances but need to update their ABS to reflect that they are doing so.

Robert Oddy, of SiFA, said he was surprised that the number of applications was as high as it was, given the confusion and challenges of the process.

But he said it would leave some questions to be asked. “They ramped up staffing and seemed to spend a lot of money but the number of people who applied is very low. In terms of value for taxpayer money, it seems to have a few problems.”

The FMA has previously said it had expected to licence about 200 AFAs for class DIMS.

But even advisers who want nothing more to do with DIMS may not be able to get away with doing nothing.

An FMA spokeswoman said it was important for advisers who were not going to provide DIMS in future to update their ABS and they should have done this by May 31. “The FMA will follow up with any AFAs who haven’t submitted their ABS and will request that they either cancel their DIMS authorisation or provide us with an updated ABS showing they meet eligibility criteria.”

Oddy urged advisers who had previously had DIMS included in their authorisation, but no longer plan to offer it, to contact the FMA email address afaapplications@fma.govt.nz to request the DIMS authorisation is removed.

“You need to follow up and do it now to stop any problem that might arise with the FMA,” he said.

It has been estimated that about two-thirds of AFAs had included DIMS in their registration, although many did not actually offer the service.

Tags: DIMS FMA