ASIC financial adviser exam, Licensing, authorised representatives and professional standards question: licensee receives a volume-based payment from a platform operator for the business placed

ASIC examLicensing, authorised representatives and professional standards

An adviser charges clients flat fees only, but her licensee receives a volume-based payment from a platform operator for the business placed on that platform. May the adviser describe herself as 'independent'?

A Yes: she personally receives only flat fees from her own clients
B No: her licensee receives a volume-based payment
C No: she would need her own AFS licence
D Yes, provided she discloses the platform payment clearly in her Financial Services Guide

Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B. No: her licensee receives a volume-based payment

Section 923A of the Corporations Act 2001 (compilation 19 Sep 2026) restricts 'independent', 'impartial' and 'unbiased'. The exception in s923A(2) requires that neither the person nor, among others, the person on whose behalf they provide the service (here the licensee) receives commissions, volume-based remuneration, or other gifts or benefits from a product issuer that may reasonably be expected to influence them. Because the licensee receives a volume-based payment, she cannot use the term. Disclosure does not cure it; ASIC's Disclosure of Lack of Independence Instrument 2021/125 instead requires a lack-of-independence statement.

Common mistake

Looking only at the adviser's own pay misses that s923A(2)(b) also looks at her licensee.

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