safe harbour steps

“I was really worried people would say ‘Is that all?'” the minister said, before explaining that he didn’t want to submit key compliance reforms until they were well-designed and collectively agreed upon.

The government’s position on what to do with the Safe Harbour Steps is no longer clear, but the chances of seeing it supplanted by the existing Code of Ethics are slim according to the FAAA’s policy chief Phil Anderson.

A principled approach to advice regulation is clearly the way forward for advisers, Neil Sparks says. But what’s missing in the discussion is how beneficial the Quality of Advice Review output will also be for consumers.

In Levy’s new world, conflicts and vertical integration are likely to be accommodated by a new statutory best interests duty with a broader scope and a lower, more flexible bar in an effort to bring advice to the masses.

Levy made no major deviations in her final suite of proposals, with Treasury left to mull on a blueprint for reform that should usher in a less prescriptive, two-tiered advice regime. But there are a few tweaks that might raise eyebrows.

Advice is set for a dramatic shift towards deregulation, with the Levy proposal paper sketching a plan to ditch statements of advice and best interest duty in favour of a new “good advice” directive.