This page is maintained by FI Advice Pty Ltd. It summarises the Financial Planners and Advisers Code of Ethics 2019 (F2019L00117), which applies to relevant providers under the Corporations Act 2001.
At FI Advice, we are committed to acting in the best interests of our clients and maintaining the highest standards of professional conduct. Our advisers follow the Financial Planners and Advisers Code of Ethics 2019, made by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority Ltd under the Corporations Act 2001.
Source: Federal Register of Legislation, F2019L00117. Registered 11 February 2019.
The values
Relevant providers must always act in a way that demonstrates, realises and promotes the following values:
- Trustworthiness, act in good faith, with integrity and honesty, to promote trust in the profession.
- Competence, have the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to perform professional obligations to each client.
- Honesty, conduct yourself with complete integrity, transparency and frankness in all professional dealings.
- Fairness, bring professional objectivity to recommendations and properly investigate each client’s needs.
- Diligence, perform engagements with due care and skill, delivering services in a timely, efficient and cost-effective way.
These values are paramount. All other provisions of the Code must be read and applied in a way that promotes them.
Ethical behaviour
Standard 1
You must act in accordance with all applicable laws, including this Code, and not try to avoid or circumvent their intent.
Standard 2
You must act with integrity and in the best interests of each of your clients.
Standard 3
You must not advise, refer or act in any other manner where you have a conflict of interest or duty.
Client care
Standard 4
You may act for a client only with the client’s free, prior and informed consent.
Standard 5
All advice and financial product recommendations that you give to a client must be in the best interests of the client and appropriate to the client’s individual circumstances. You must be satisfied that the client understands your advice, and the benefits, costs and risks of the financial products that you recommend, and you must have reasonable grounds to be satisfied.
Standard 6
You must take into account the broad effects arising from the client acting on your advice and actively consider the client’s broader, long-term interests and likely circumstances.
Quality process
Standard 7
The client must give free, prior and informed consent to all benefits you and your principal will receive in connection with acting for the client, including any fees for services that may be charged. Except where expressly permitted by the Corporations Act 2001, you may not receive any benefits from a third party other than your principal. You must satisfy yourself that any fees, charges and benefits are fair and reasonable and represent value for money for the client.
Standard 8
You must ensure that your records of clients, including former clients, are kept in a form that is complete and accurate.
Standard 9
All advice you give, and all products you recommend, to a client must be offered in good faith and with competence and be neither misleading nor deceptive.
Professional commitment
Standard 10
You must develop, maintain and apply a high level of relevant knowledge and skills.
Standard 11
You must cooperate with ASIC and monitoring bodies in any investigation of a breach or potential breach of this Code.
Standard 12
Individually and in cooperation with peers, you must uphold and promote the ethical standards of the profession and hold each other accountable for the protection of the public interest.
Contact us
If you have questions about our ethical standards or would like to raise a concern, please contact us at info@fiadvice.com.au.