So, the new regime is now in force and you are expected to be running your business in line with the policies and processes you declared you have in place when you applied for your FAP licence.

The FMA have started conducting monitoring reviews and when you are selected, you will be expected to provide a range of supporting documents and business data to assist the FMA with their review. You’ll need to demonstrate how you are meeting your licence obligations.

As part of applying for your FAP licence, you confirmed to the FMA that your business has each of these policies / processes and the date that they were last reviewed. These need to be provided upon request.

The FMC Act imposes statutory duties on persons who give regulated financial advice to retail clients. Those duties include:

• To comply with the standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care required by the Code.

• Your CRM needs to include documented evidence that you are abiding by the code, following all of your stated policies and processes, providing financial advice that is suitable and ensuring that the client understands the financial advice.

The FMA may request this information prior to a monitoring visit, as the first standard condition of holding a FAP licence is record keeping.

FMA guidance states that your records should include (without limitation):

• A record of all regulated financial advice given to retail clients, by you or on your behalf

• Records relating to how you, and any person engaged by you, has complied with the financial advice duties.

As part of a monitoring visit, the FMA may enquire about the governance arrangements you have for your business and ask for evidence that you are complying with your FAP duties and obligations.

FAPs may be held responsible for their own conduct as well as the conduct of their financial advisers and nominated representatives, and any authorised bodies under their licence. The Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment provide this guidance on liability in the new financial advice regime.

Every FAP is required to comply with any licence conditions the FMA may include when granting your licence, including the standard conditions, and the licence conditions imposed by law.

You may be required to provide the results of any compliance and/or oversight checks and/or tests conducted, and the actions taken as a result.

Part 8 of The Companies Act 1993 outlines the Director’s duty of care and the duty to act in good faith and in the best interest of the company. This includes being able to demonstrate that the business is operating in line with all regulatory requirements.

You've answered no or are unsure about one or more of the questions, meaning you're not confident you can provide the FMA requirements.

There are solutions available. TAP has built a FAP management system that allows you to document all of your business activity on a single platform, which enables this reporting to be generated in a matter of minutes. Our services can also extend to assist with record keeping, data processing, auditing and compliance.

*This is only to be used as a self-assessment tool and only provides an indication of some of the information you may be required to provide in a formal audit process. For a full FAP assessment, please contact The Adviser Platform.

Congratulations, you are confident you can provide the FMA requirements! We all know how hard it can be to run a FAP well, but it doesn’t need to be stressful or expensive.

TAP has built a FAP management system that allows you to document all of your business activity on a single platform, which enables this reporting to be generated in a matter of minutes. Our services can also extend to assist with record keeping, data processing, auditing and compliance.

*This is only to be used as a self-assessment tool and only provides an indication of some of the information you may be required to provide in a formal audit process. For a full FAP assessment, please contact The Adviser Platform.