In a bid to ensure genuine services of financial advice, the Federal Government has introduced legislation before Parliament that will enshrine the terms ‘financial adviser’ and ‘financial planner’.

Federal Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten, said the move will ensure that customers can clearly identify genuine providers of financial advice.

"These reforms will enable consumers to know who to trust with their financial affairs, and build consumer confidence in the financial product advice industry", Mr Shorten said.

"Through the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reform package, the Government has made significant improvements to investor protections and the quality of financial product advice, and has increased consumer trust in the financial advice industry. The legislation I introduced today continues to build on these reforms.”

The legislation will make it an offence for a person to falsely represent that they are a financial planner or financial advisor, and will allow ASIC to persecute those who are found guilty of misrepresentation.