FPA offers ASIC financial literacy helping hand

The ASIC strategy is in line with the FPA’s social responsibility and public policy platforms and is a good opportunity for the profession to give back to the community, FPA general manager policy and conduct Dante De Gori said in the letter.

“Consumer financial capability and understanding is fundamental to the ability to make informed
judgments and effective decisions about the use and management of money,” the letter stated.

“This challenge requires the combined efforts of all stakeholders, in both the public and private sector. The financial planning profession embraces its role in this regard and would welcome the opportunity to work more closely with ASIC and other stakeholders to improve the financial literacy of Australians.”

The FPA has also provided a separate submission to Treasury outlining its position against the government’s proposed cap of self-education expenses set to begin on 1 July 2014.

The submission pointed to legislative changes that will force planners to comply with new training and education requirements which “are not traditionally described as self-education”.

“The imposition of a cap will penalise Australians who are endeavoring to improve their qualifications for work or business who are not incurring unnecessarily excessive costs,” the submission stated.