Is My Financial Advice Compliant?

How to check if your financial adviser followed the rules

How Compliance Works

When a financial adviser gives you personal advice, they must follow strict rules under the Corporations Act. These rules require them to act in your best interests, provide appropriate advice, disclose all fees and conflicts, and document everything in a Statement of Advice.

Key Things to Check

Look for evidence that your adviser investigated different options, considered the costs of switching products, matched recommendations to your risk profile, disclosed all fees and commissions, and explained their reasoning in plain language.

Red Flags

Common warning signs include generic or template language that does not reflect your personal situation, missing fee disclosures, recommendations that seem to benefit the adviser more than you, and inadequate explanation of why one product was chosen over another.

What AdviserCheck Does

AdviserCheck is a compliance analysis tool used by financial advisers and their licensees. It reviews SOAs against Australian regulations and flags any issues. If your adviser uses AdviserCheck, their SOAs are being checked against the same standards ASIC enforces.

What Makes Financial Advice Compliant?

For financial advice to be compliant with Australian law, it must meet several key requirements under the Corporations Act. First, the adviser must have acted in your best interests (s961B) by following the seven safe harbour steps or demonstrating that they have otherwise met the duty. Second, the advice must be appropriate to your circumstances (s961G). Third, the advice must be provided with reasonable care and skill (s961H).

The advice must also be properly documented in a compliant Statement of Advice (or Record of Advice) that includes: your personal details and goals, the recommendations and the basis for them, disclosure of fees in dollar amounts (RG 182), disclosure of any commissions or benefits, information about alternatives considered, risk disclosures, cooling-off rights, and complaints handling procedures. Missing any of these elements may indicate non-compliance.

Using AdviserCheck for Compliance Analysis

AdviserCheck provides an AI-powered compliance analysis tool that examines your SOA, ROA, or CAR across six layers: completeness (does the document contain all required sections?), best interests duty (does it demonstrate compliance with s961B?), contradictions (are there inconsistencies between sections?), suitability (does the advice align with your stated goals?), language clarity (is the document clear and easy to understand?), and fees and conflicts (are fees properly disclosed and conflicts managed?).

Each layer is scored, and findings are triple-confirmed by three independent AI models to ensure accuracy. You upload your document, and within minutes you receive a detailed report identifying potential issues. This can help you decide whether to challenge the advice, request amendments, or seek a second opinion.

What to Do If Your Advice Is Non-Compliant

If you identify compliance issues in your advice document, start by raising them with your adviser in writing. Request that they address the issues by providing an amended SOA or a supplementary document. If the adviser does not respond appropriately, you can escalate to their licensee (the AFSL holder) through their internal dispute resolution process.

If still unresolved, you can lodge a complaint with AFCA, which handles disputes up to $1 million ($5.36 million for superannuation complaints). AFCA can require the adviser to pay compensation, refund fees, or take corrective action. You can also report serious compliance breaches to ASIC, which may take enforcement action.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I check if my SOA is compliant without uploading it anywhere?
You can review it against ASIC's checklists available on the Moneysmart website. Key things to look for: a clear description of your goals, specific recommendations with reasoning, fee disclosure in dollar amounts, disclosure of any commissions, and information about your rights including cooling-off and complaints.

What is the most common compliance issue in SOAs?
ASIC has identified inadequate fee disclosure (fees not shown in dollar amounts), generic rather than personalised content (not meeting the best interests duty), and insufficient discussion of alternatives as the most common compliance issues in Statements of Advice.

Does a compliant SOA guarantee good advice?
Not necessarily. Compliance means the document meets the legal requirements. The advice could still be poor quality or unsuitable even if the document is technically compliant. However, a compliant SOA is much more likely to reflect proper advice.

Can I get a refund of fees if my SOA is non-compliant?
Yes. If your SOA does not meet the legal requirements, you may be entitled to a refund of the fees you paid. AFCA has upheld complaints where SOAs were found to be non-compliant and ordered refunds of advice fees.

Regulatory Context

Three reform waves frame modern Australian advice. Wave one: FOFA (2013), adding the best interests duty and prohibiting conflicted remuneration. Wave two: DBFO (2024-25), cutting red tape by abolishing the FDS requirement, streamlining fee consent and clarifying super deduction rules. Wave three is still moving: the Quality of Advice Review (2022) has driven draft Tranche 2 legislation (as at March 2025) covering simplified SOAs and a new class of adviser.