Under transition arrangements released by ASIC, brokers and their representatives now have until 30 June 2014 to obtain a Certificate IV qualification.
This was made clear in a series of guides issued today to help those preparing their credit licence applications.
While Certificate IV in Financial Services (Mortgage/Finance Broking) is a training requirement for both 'responsible managers' and their credit representatives, both have been provided with a transition period, until 30 June 2014 to obtain the necessary qualification.
In the case of responsible managers (those responsible for the "quality of the credit activities" in the business) ASIC will accept "responsible managers of lenders who can demonstrate five years relevant problem-free experience" and "responsible managers of businesses providing credit assistance who can demonstrate two years relevant problem-free experience" - even if they do not yet hold a Certificate IV.
In the case of representatives of mortgage brokers, ASIC simply states that they have until 30 June 2014 to obtain a Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking).
From 1 July 2014, anyone applying for a credit licence or acting as a representative of a licensee will need to hold a Certificate IV.
As a general rule, ASIC expects "responsible managers to have at least two years relevant experience and a relevant qualification at the Certificate IV level or above".
Details about Certificate IV requirements were included in Regulatory Guide 206 Credit Licensing: Competence and training along with a series of guides to help those preparing their credit licence applications.
The other guides released are:
- Regulatory Guide 204 Credit Licensing: Applying for and varying a credit licence
- Regulatory Guide 205 Credit Licensing: General conduct obligations (RG 205)
- Regulatory Guide 207 Credit Licensing: Financial requirements
- Regulatory Guide 208: How ASIC charges fees for credit relief applications (RG 208)
- INFO 97 Guidance for small credit businesses
- Regulatory Guide 51 Applications for relief (RG 51)
- Regulatory Guide 108 No-action letters
To download all the guides, follow this link:
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