The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has welcomed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) announcement of relief measures that allow financial advisers to rely on website disclosure information instead of providing a Financial Services Guide (FSG) when dealing in financial products as a result of providing financial advice.
Phil Anderson, general manager policy, advocacy and standards at FAAA, said this relief was welcomed by financial advisers.

"This relief resolves a problem that was identified in the law following the passing of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) Bill, where the service of dealing was unintentionally not captured by this reform. Dealing, which includes implementing a product that has been recommended as part of the provision of financial advice, is a critical service provided to clients. This relief now provides certainty to enable financial advice businesses to rely upon the FSG reform in the DBFO Bill," Mr Anderson said.

"The FAAA has been working with ASIC on this matter since September, when the problem was identified, and we are very pleased that ASIC has delivered a workable solution to the financial services industry."

While acknowledging the temporary nature of ASIC's relief, Mr Anderson said the FAAA is committed to working with the Federal Government to pursue a permanent solution.

The ASIC Corporations (Amendment) Instrument 2024/809 amends the ASIC Corporations (Financial Services Guides) Instrument 2015/541 to address an unintended consequence of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (DBFO Act).

The amendment allows financial services licensees and authorised representatives to make website disclosure information available for dealing in financial products when implementing financial product advice, rather than providing a separate FSG.