Now that March 11 is past and the FSRA is impacting on brokers’ lives, they shouldn’t expect that the rules won’t change.

Delegates to the Regional Insurance Brokers Association conference in Geelong last week heard from NIBA CEO Noel Pettersen, Professional Development Executive Linda Evans and ASIC FSR Director Sean Hughes that things will keep on changing as the regulator fine-tunes the rules.

“It is a moveable feast,” Ms Evans said. “Already we have had to make changes to our website and it will continue to be regularly updated.” Even though the official launch of the Members Help Kit is still two weeks away, NIBA members can already go online to get the assistance they need to prepare for compliance, she said.

Mr Pettersen said the changes might be a bit hard to keep up with at present, but the future is bright. “The uncertainty in the marketplace creates a need for advice – the exact service brokers provide.

“ASIC is not out there to cut you off at the knees,” he said. “They are aiming to apply broad principles to brokers, but those who skate around the rules should be aware that ASIC will come down heavily on them.”

Acknowledging “some angst” in the industry regarding the lateness of the most recent changes and the effect this might have on meeting compliance requirements from Day 1, Mr Hughes said the changes are intended to help rather than hinder. “If anything, the latest regulations have added circumstances to the class of exclusions from the confirmation requirements, which should make Day 1 compliance easier rather than more difficult.”