Financial Services and Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten intends to release a cost analysis of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms soon.
“The Regulatory Impact Statement was developed for draft legislation which has since been amended,” a Shorten spokesman said.
“Given this amendment, a cost-benefit analysis is being developed and will be released shortly.”
The spokesman declined to give a specific timeframe on the release of the analysis.
The Senate Economics Committee (SEC) has called on government to release the analysis and regulatory impact statement as soon as possible.
“It is the committee’s view that, in the interest of widening understanding of the impact of the reforms, that the cost-benefit analysis and [regulatory impact statements] should be released by the government at the earliest opportunity,” the SEC said in its 156-page report released last week.
In its report, the SEC said the estimated cost of opt-in varied widely. It included the well-publicised $11 per client estimate set out by Rice Warner Actuaries and quoted by Shorten in unveiling the FOFA measures.
It also included the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) $100 to $120 estimate per client, which would include the cost of getting clients to sign fresh contracts every two years as well as sending out annual fee disclosure statements.
Burrell Stockbroking put the cost at $650 per client, including face-to-face meetings “to renegotiate contracts and costs”.
Assistant treasury spokesman for the opposition Mathias Cormann has continued calls for government to deliver a full regulatory impact assessment of FOFA before delivering final legislation to Parliament.
Meanwhile, the lower house of Parliament is set to debate the reforms today, with 21 members of Parliament (MP) listed to speak.
Included in the line up is the Member for Lyne in New South Wales, Rob Oakeshott.
“It will be a challenging debate, with amendments, and a challenging series of votes,” Oakeshott said.
“I do expect FOFA laws to pass, but I also expect a fair fight over some of the details contained within the package.”
Member for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, Bob Katter, will not likely be in Canberra when the House of Representatives debate the bill, a spokesperson for his office told InvestorDaily.
However, the spokesperson said Katter had a view on the reforms.
“We have had strong representations from regional financial companies, who have outlined some of their key concerns that we are taking very seriously,” she said.
Member for the Tasmanian electorate of Denison Andrew Wilkie said he has not yet decided how he will respond to FOFA.
MPs Tony Windsor and Tony Crook did not respond to InvestorDaily‘s request for comment by deadline.
The first and second tranches of the Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011 are to be debated as a single measure.
