If the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) bill stalls or fails to become law, federal MP Bernie Ripoll believes the reforms will still happen.

“We have good reforms on the table and you should work with us to deliver a great future for the financial services sector,” he told the annual Association of Financial Advisers conference on the Gold Coast yesterday.

“If FOFA is stalled or doesn’t pass Parliament, reform will still come.”

Mr Ripoll, who chaired the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into financial products and services last year, defended the controversial “opt-in” proposal of the FOFA bill, saying it’s only an “ongoing consent” that most advisers are already doing.

“Opt-in has been blown out of all proportion,” he said. “It forms part of the total package that professional advisers should be doing.”

Mr Ripoll says there have been concessions on implementation, and as a result the provision will only apply to new clients.

Having undertaken the review into the activities of the Storm and Trio investment organisations, he says the FOFA bill is meeting the spirit of what was proposed by his committee.

“I am confident what is before Parliament is in the right direction,” Mr Ripoll said.

“We need to improve the system and there has been broad agreement dealing with conflicted remuneration is on the right path.

“If people want a professional status, then they have to have a professional duty. As a result, the tick-a-box approach to licensing and education had to be improved.”

Mr Ripoll says the second tranche of the FOFA bill will be introduced before Christmas. This is expected to include the guidelines for advisers and brokers acting in the “best interest” of their clients.