[UPDATED] Full licensing rules finally released

After much industry consulting, the FMA have finally released the standard conditions that financial advice providers must adhere to achieve a full licence.

The final standard conditions for a full financial advice provider licence include three separate classes of financial advice service, as well as seven sections that the standard conditions cover.

The seven standard conditions for a full licence include:

• record keeping
• internal complaints process
• regulatory returns
• outsourcing
• business continuity and
• technology systems,
• ongoing requirements, and notification of material changes.

One notable admission from the conditions is professional indemnity insurance. The FMA media release says that “Professional indemnity insurance cover remains an important decision for each financial advice provider to consider, taking into account their own particular circumstances, and accordingly, the FMA decided not to include professional indemnity insurance as a standard condition”.