FAE · ASIC Financial Adviser Exam

Licensing, registration and professional standards

Who may give personal advice to retail clients, what a licensee must check before authorising them, and the education, exam, professional year and CPD standards that apply to relevant providers.

Financial advice regulatory and legal obligations2 min read3 sections

Checked against: Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), compilation No. 149 (19 Sep 2026) Pt 7.6 (ss911A-923C); Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018; Corporations (Relevant Providers Continuing Professional Development Standard) Determination 2018; ASIC Exam preparation guidance v6.0 (Sept 2026).. Independent prep, not endorsed by ASIC.

Must-know for the exam

A relevant provider is an individual authorised to give personal advice to retail clients about relevant financial products.
Before authorisation the qualifications and exam standards must be met; only the professional year may still be in progress (s921C).
A provisional relevant provider must not use 'financial adviser' or 'financial planner' (s923C(1)(c)(ii)).
The exam must be passed before quarter 3 of the professional year starts (PY Determination s12(2)).
A professional year supervisor needs at least 2 years' experience as a relevant provider, not counting their own professional year (PY Determination s8(1)).
CPD: 9 hours of professionalism and ethics, and 5 hours each in three other areas (CPD Determination s9(2)).
At least 70% of minimum CPD hours must be licensee-approved; reading counts for at most 4 hours (s9(3)-(4)).
A licensee must notify ASIC within 30 business days of authorising a representative (s916F(1)).
Registration in relation to a licensee ends when that licensee stops authorising the relevant provider (s921ZE(b)(iii)).

On this page · 3 sections

Traps that cost marks

Candidates assume 'outside authority' breaks the licensee's liability. Under s917B it does not; only a clear, prominent disclosure under s917D does.
Passing the exam feels like the finish line, but the restricted-terms rule keys off provisional status, which lasts until the professional year is complete.
Accelerated progression is real, but the Determination says expressly that it does not override the exam requirement for quarter 3.
Compliance sign-off sounds stricter, but the statute names the supervisor's written approval specifically.
The intuitive answer is the person who spoke. The deeming rule moves the advice to the supervisors.
The plan clears 40 hours, so it looks compliant. The minimum for professionalism and ethics is 9, not 5 like the others.
The figures are close together; anchor on 40 hours and 70%, which gives the note's 28 hours.
Fifteen business days appears in s916F(1A), but that notice goes to the licensee, not to ASIC.

The rule

Personal advice to retail clients about relevant financial products can only be given by a relevant provider authorised by an AFS licensee, and registered with ASIC. The licensee carries the obligation to check standards are met before it authorises anyone (s921C).

•Qualifications standard and exam standard: must be met before authorisation.
•Work and training standard (the professional year): may be in progress, under a supervisor.
•Ongoing: CPD each CPD year, and compliance with the Code of Ethics (s921E).

Common traps

Trap: Passing the exam does not lift the title restriction; that ends when the person stops being a provisional relevant provider.

Trap: A supervisor's sign-off cannot let a candidate start quarter 3 before passing the exam.

Trap: Professional or technical reading counts as CPD, but only up to 4 hours.

Trap: A registration does not travel with an adviser to a new licensee; the new licensee must apply.

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