ASIC announced it had extended the “record of advice” relief measure, which allows financial advisers to provide a record of advice, rather than a statement of advice, to existing clients requiring financial advice due to the impact of the pandemic, until 15 April 2022.
ASIC decided to extend this relief after industry consultation identified that the extension would be helpful for financial advisers in the current circumstances.
ASIC has also reintroduced the relief measure that allows financial advisers additional time to give their clients a statement of advice after time-critical advice has been provided. Under this measure financial advisers have up to 20 business days (instead of five business days).
Both temporary relief measures are set out in ASIC Corporations (COVID-19—Advice-related Relief) Instrument 2021/268.
ASIC will continue to monitor the appropriateness of these temporary relief measures as circumstances change and may consider ending the relief before the six-month period if appropriate. ASIC will give sufficient notice to industry before any early repeal is implemented.