NZ Set to Recognise Aussie Adviser Qualifications

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New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority is proposing to recognise Australian financial adviser qualifications so Australian advisers can work in New Zealand from 15 March 2021 – without having to complete the training Kiwi advisers are required to do.

A consultation paper released by the regulator says that, in broad terms, the competence, knowledge and skill requirements of New Zealand’s [incoming] code will set competency at the Level 5 New Zealand Certificate in Financial Services version 2.

“There is demand from time to time from individual Australian financial advisers to work in New Zealand,” says the FMA. “Some Australian qualifications are equivalent to, or exceed, the standards of competence, knowledge and skill that will apply in New Zealand under the code.

“Requiring individual Australian financial advisers with these qualifications to retrain in New Zealand would be expensive and may impose unnecessary compliance costs. We are therefore considering issuing a statement confirming the circumstances in which we will recognise that Australian qualifications satisfy the competence, knowledge and skill requirements that apply in New Zealand.”

The FMA’s consultation document says the New Zealand code provides a “…flexible framework for demonstrating competence, knowledge and skill”.

“It specifies ways of demonstrating that each standard is met. However, this does not prevent a person from demonstrating their competence, knowledge or skill in a way that is not specifically set out in the code.

“Where a person references an alternative qualification to demonstrate that they have capabilities equivalent to those set by the competency standards in the code, they are required to do so in an objective, measurable and independently verifiable manner.”

Click here to download the briefing document.