During the three-year transition period to 30 June 2016 (when the accountants’ exemption expires), accountants who do not yet meet the experience requirements will be permitted to operate under a limited AFSL if their responsible manager is a recognised accountant.
Applicants who take advantage of the transitional arrangements for entry into the limited AFSL regime will need to demonstrate their knowledge and competency to ASIC within three years of the licence being granted.
In an information sheet on the application process released on Friday, ASIC said responsible managers will need to be “organisationally close to the provision of financial services” and “able to undertake the time commitment to exercise their responsibility”.
The regulator also shed some light on the number of responsible managers a business will be required to have.
“In the case of a small business, we recognise that there may only be one responsible manager, but generally we expect that an AFSL licensee will have at least two responsible managers,” the information sheet said.
If only one responsible manager is nominated, ASIC said it would likely impose a ‘key person condition’ on a business’ limited AFSL.
ASIC would have to be notified if the key person leaves the business.
Further details of the application process can be found on the ASIC website.
