The Financial Advisers Act applies to all financial advice received by clients in New Zealand, including advice provided by advisers based overseas. Certain sections of the Act also apply to New Zealand-based advisers giving advice to overseas clients. These include the obligation to act with care, diligence and skill and not to act in a misleading or deceptive manner.
Overseas advisers who provide advice only to wholesale clients in New Zealand may not be required to be registered or authorised if they are "overseas financial advisers" (a type of exempt provider). See sections 5 and 20 of the Act.
Australian advisers who provide financial adviser services to clients in New Zealand will be subject to the New Zealand financial adviser regime. This includes the requirement that only individuals that are permitted under the Financial Advisers Act may provide certain services (see our Flowchart to determine if you need to be authorised or registered).
There are 2 exemptions which have been granted by the FMA that Australian advisers may be able to utilise:
There is a further avenue for Australian qualifications recognition under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act. This is very limited in its application for financial advisers as it applies only to individuals (ie not firms) who are Australian licence holders when they apply to be authorised/registered under the New Zealand financial adviser regime.