As foreshadowed here the Corporations Amendment (Revising Future of Financial Advice) Regulation 2014 has been registered to partially reinstate the Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Future of Financial Advice) Regulation 2014 (FOFA Regulations) that was disallowed by the Senate on 19 November 2014.

The Regulation makes the following changes:

• amends the grandfathering arrangements for the ban on conflicted remuneration (that is, when certain benefits are not subject to the ban) to:

  – allow advisers to change the financial services licensee under which they are authorised whilst retaining their rights to receive grandfathered conflicted remuneration (that is, remuneration that is not subject to the ban and is permitted to be paid despite otherwise being conflicted remuneration);
  – extend the dates at which grandfathering ceases for benefits paid under employee arrangements; and
  – other minor amendments to clarify the intended operation of the grandfathering provisions;

• specifies additional benefits that are permitted under the ban on conflicted remuneration and clarifies the operation of existing provisions, including:

  – broadening the circumstances when benefits may be paid in relation to the stockbroker-related activities and clarifying the operation of existing provisions where uncertainty currently exists;
  – broadening the existing education and training provisions to provide that benefits in relation to education and training that relate to conducting a financial services business are not conflicted remuneration; and

• ensures that the existing provisions which extend the renewal period for accountants’ certificates from six months to two years that currently apply other parts of the Act also apply in respect of the FOFA provisions.

Separately the Corporations (Statements of Advice) Repeal Regulation 2014, repeals the Corporations Amendment (Statements of Advice) Regulation 2014 that imposed a range of additional obligations on financial service licensees in relation to the provision of Statements of Advice, including that the client must acknowledge receipt of the Statement of Advice. The original Regulation was introduced by agreement with the Palmer United Party but has been repealed as the agreement with the Palmer United Party and the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party is no longer in force.