The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) published its February 2025 Financial advice update, a roundup for advice Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and financial advisers. The update consolidates developments on adviser professional standards, complaints and breach reporting, technology-related governance risks, and current supervisory and disciplinary activity. On professional standards, ASIC released additional guidance and worked examples to help licensees assess and record advisers’ qualifications against the Corporations Act qualifications standard, noting existing providers have until 1 January 2026 to meet the standard. It also restated the eligibility conditions and process for using the experienced provider pathway, including the 10-year relevant provider experience test (3,650 days between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2021), a clean disciplinary record as at 31 December 2021, declaration requirements, and the licensee obligation to notify ASIC within 30 business days of receiving the declaration. On complaints reporting, ASIC pointed to findings from its first industry-wide internal dispute resolution (IDR) data publication (Report 801), flagging variation and gaps in firms’ reporting and noting 5,035 firms declared no complaints for the full year, with ASIC planning in 2025 to publish complaints data at individual-firm level and to assess compliance using other datasets. The update also highlighted ASIC’s first review of artificial intelligence adoption by licensees (Report 798), based on work across 23 AFS and credit licensees, which identified increasing and more complex AI use cases including generative AI and raised concerns that governance and risk management are not keeping pace. Additional sections summarised recent Financial Services and Credit Panel outcomes, ASIC’s ongoing thematic surveillance of advice to establish self-managed superannuation funds, and high-level insights from the reportable situations regime (Report 800) for 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. Looking ahead, ASIC expects existing providers relying on the experienced provider pathway to make their declarations before 1 January 2026, will publish firm-level complaints data in 2025 based on IDR submissions as received, and indicated it will communicate findings from its SMSF advice surveillance and consider enforcement or other regulatory action where appropriate.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2025-02-12
Australian Securities & Investments Commission issues February 2025 financial advice update covering adviser qualification guidance, IDR reporting scrutiny and AI governance gaps
ASIC's February 2025 Financial advice update covers adviser standards, complaints, breach reporting, tech governance risks, and supervisory activities. It offers guidance on adviser qualifications and the experienced provider pathway. Findings from its first industry-wide dispute resolution data show reporting gaps, with plans to publish firm-level complaints data in 2025. A review of AI adoption by licensees reveals complexity and governance concerns. The update includes outcomes from the Financial Services and Credit Panel, superannuation fund advice surveillance, and insights from the reportable situations regime.