The road to smooth regulatory exams for financial advisers, which is already the cause of dispute in the financial services industry, has hit another bump. Study material for the regulatory level-one exams has been withdrawn by the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (Inseta).
This follows a complaint from the Financial Services Board (FSB) about the quality of Inseta’s study material. Gerry Anderson, the deputy chief executive in charge of market conduct and consumer education at the FSB, says the FSB received feedback that the study material supplied by Inseta was insufficient.
The FSB has already dropped the pass mark from 70 to 65 percent and it expects all financial advisers to write the exams by the end of the year.
The level-one exams are to ensure that advisers understand what they can and cannot do when advising you.
Chris van der Walt, the chief executive of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, says it would be “absurd for the FSB to push forward with the current framework and exam process as it stands” in light of the position now taken by Inseta. However, Anderson has previously told Personal Finance that no course material is required for the compulsory level-one exam.
The FSB also announced this week that financial advisers will be allowed to write the regulatory level-one exams in Afrikaans. A registration process for advisers who want to write the exams in Afrikaans will be announced by the FSB.