Here’s what draft legislation on ‘quick wins’ should hold

In an exclusive conversation with ifa earlier this month, Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said draft legislation on the first stream of the government’s response to the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) should be made public by the end of October.

“I hope to have some draft legislation within the month so that we can pour over that, just to make sure it’s technically correct, and get it into Parliament first up next year,” Mr Jones told ifa.

He explained that the government has stress tested “a bunch” of the recommendations made under stream one – recommendations he has referred to as “red tape reduction” focused.

The second tranche, which centres on retirement income, is the “next cab off the rank”, the minister disclosed to ifa.

“We’re doing all of these things in parallel, but it’s as simple as this. You got a tube about that fat, and if you try to squeeze everything through it at once, nothing will pass through. So that’s the tube of Parliament and the policymaking process. So I’ve been very pragmatic,” Mr Jones said.

“What can we get through? What’s ready to go? What’s not ready to go? And let’s try and move these things through in a logical fashion.”

Under the first stream of the QAR recommendations, advisers can expect the following changes:

• The removal of the “Safe Harbour” steps, originally designed to protect financial advisers, from the Best Interests Duty.
• The streamlining of the ongoing fee renewal and consent requirements into a single form, and the removal of the requirement to provide a fee disclosure statement.
• The replacement of statements of advice with an advice record that is more fit for purpose.
• More flexibility in how financial service guide requirements can be met.
• The introduction of standardised consumer consent requirements to classify a consumer as a wholesale or sophisticated client.
• The simplification and removal of certain exemptions to the ban on conflicted remuneration.
• The introduction of standardised consumer consent requirements for life, general, and consumer credit insurance commissions.

To hear more from Mr Jones, click here.