๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ (๐—™๐—ฆ๐—š) – ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€

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  • ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ (๐—™๐—ฆ๐—š) – ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€

As the FSG is a legal document it’s important that your FSG has legal sign-off. Copying & pasting the FSG of another should be avoided.

A Licensee (s941A) or, independently, an Authorised rep (s940A), must give a person a FSG if a financial service is provided to a retail client.

๐™๐™ž๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™๐™Ž๐™‚

The FSG must be given as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent to the providing entity that the financial service will be, or is likely to be, provided & in any event before the financial service is provided.

Generally, for insurance brokers, this means the earlier of, an appointment or when first providing financial product advice. For insurers & underwriting agencies this generally is at the time of making an offer for insurance products (eg a quote).

In respect of claims handling & settling services; insurance brokers, underwriting agencies, insurers & insurance claim managers are not required to provide an FSG as the FSG was provided at the time of sale/engagement.

However, claimant intermediaries (who act for insureds) must provide an FSG before they provide the financial service.

Refer to s941C for situations in which an FSG is not required

๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด

If the client immediately requests the financial service or it is not reasonably practicable to give an FSG before providing the service, a statement may be provided (meeting the requirements of s941D(3)) & the FSG provided within 5 days after the statement.

๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™– ๐™๐™Ž๐™‚

The title ‘๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜Ž๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ’ must be on the cover of, or near the front of, the FSG. Thereafter, the abbreviation ‘๐˜๐˜š๐˜Ž’, may be used.

An FSG must be dated, presented in a clear, concise & effective manner & contain (see s942B also refer to Part 7.7 Div 2 of the regulations):

  • details of the provider including AFSL or AR number
  • the financial services provided
  • who the provider acts for
  • details of remuneration & benefits (incl commission)
  • details of associations or relationships between the provider & issuer (including any related body corporate)
  • for personal advice, details of restricted words or expressions. This includes, for insurance brokers who are paid a commission, that the broker is not independent, impartial or unbiased.
  • information about dispute resolution & how it can be accessed (IDR & EDR)
  • for underwriting agencies details of any binder
  • a statement about PI cover

๐™ˆ๐™ช๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™š ๐™™๐™ค๐™˜๐™ช๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™จ

ss942D & 942DA

A FSG may consist of multiple documents such as, for brokers bound by the Code, a ๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Œ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต however must have on the cover a statement to the effect the document is part of a FSG.

For insurers & underwriting agencies, an FSG may be combined with a PDS in a single document.