ARTICLE
15 January 2025

More Flexible FSG Requirements

SG
Sophie Grace Pty Ltd

Contributor

Sophie Grace is a leading Australian firm specialising in both compliance and legal services to participants within the financial services and credit industries. We have serviced Australian and international clients across the financial sector for over a decade. From obtaining the required licences to operate your business to the provision of ongoing compliance support, many businesses have benefited from Sophie Grace’s extensive knowledge in the financial and credit space. We take pride in our ability to offer tailored solutions to a broad range of businesses whilst keeping business practicalities and obligations to regulators at the forefront of our minds when delivering services and advice. Our consultancy services can equip you with assistance and clarity in your business endeavours.
Essentially, financial advisers may give their clients a FSG or make the FSG information publicly available on their website .
Australia Finance and Banking

The way financial advisers can give their clients a Financial Services Guide ("FSG") has been amended. These changes also apply to providers of general advice. Essentially, financial advisers may give their clients a FSG or make the FSG information publicly available on their website – known as "website disclosure information".

Website disclosure information must comply with the following requirements:

  • contain the same statements and information that would be required in an FSG;
  • can appear across different locations or parts of the provider's website, and can take any form (written or graphic, files etc.);
  • be freely available to the public, meaning that it must not be password protected or accessible only to persons who have created an account or paid a subscription;
  • be up-to-date and specify the day it was last updated;
  • not be defective, meaning it cannot be misleading or deceptive, or omit information that is required to be included in website disclosure information;
  • any alterations to website disclosure information must be authorised by the licensee. For material alterations, the website must clearly show the date on which the alteration was made; and
  • If an authorised representative wants to distribute website disclosure information, it must have authorisation from the licensee to do so.

Although there is no express requirement to do so, financial advisers should notify clients that this information is available on their website, for example by including a link to the information in email correspondence to clients.

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If you have any questions about how the changes can be applied to your business website, please contact us.

The ("DBFO Act") has implemented a number of changes which Sophie Grace have covered in separate articles on our website.

Further Reading

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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