The Federal Government has appointed Catherine Walter as Chairman of the new Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) for a four-year period.

She is a director on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments Systems Board, and was previously on the boards of NAB and the Financial Reporting Council.

Also joining the FASEA board are Matthew Rowe, former chairman of the Financial Planning Association and now CEO of CountPlus, and Deborah Kent, former president of the Association of Financial Advisers and Integra Financial Services boss.

Former Australian Prudential Regulation Authority member Steve Somogyi has also been appointed to the board.

Other board appointees are Legal Services Board (Victoria) Director Carolyn Bond, Griffith University Professor of Finance Mark Brimble, Financial Ombudsman Service Director Catriona Lowe, Ethics Centre CEO Simon Longstaff and National Seniors Australia CEO Michael O’Neill.

The FASEA will set mandatory education and training requirements for advisers, develop and set an industry exam and create a code of ethics.

New requirements will start taking effect from January 1 2019. The code of ethics will commence on January 1 the following year.