Hundreds of advisers facing thousands of dollars in retraining costs have been granted a reprieve by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA).

FASEA has designated the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) Certified Financial Planner (CFP) program as recognised prior learning, granting it two credits towards the total required for its new education standard.

Current advisers have to be fully accredited with FASEA by January 2024.

The program has also received recognition for up to four credits in master of financial planning university courses.

FASEA would not initially recognise the CFP designation or advanced diplomas, which cost thousands of dollars to complete, leading the FPA to demand a change of mind. An FPA questionnaire on the matter last year drew 1700 responses in 24 hours.

The CFP is the industry body’s highest educational standard, recognised in 26 countries.

Under the final FASEA framework, about 50% of FPA members need only complete a code of ethics course, 15% need to complete 3-7 education units, 30% need to complete 4-8 and 5% need to complete eight or more.

FPA CEO Dante De Gori says the FASEA announcement acknowledges that the CFP designation is a gold standard in advice.