As previously reported, from 1 July 2021, the new law requires written disclosure of a lack of independence in relation to personal advice in a FSG where an AFSL /AR is not entitled to use the words ‘independent’ (or similar words) under the Corporations Act.
The FSG must clearly, concisely and prominently state and explain the lack of independence. ASIC has now allowed some flexibility (compared to the original proposal) in the wording of the required bolded heading, with a choice of ‘Not Independent’, ‘Lack of Independence’ or similar being permitted. ASIC has released an example lack of independence disclosure statement and annotations which you can review here.