ASIC says it has observed some positive progress in the wake of Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms and new fee disclosure statement rules.

ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell spoke at the Association of Financial Advisers' 2015 National Adviser Conference in Cairns this week.

He said things had changed from the old days of financial advisers charging an “ocean of passive fees”, which saw clients pay for services that were not actually provided.

“ANZ has made an announcement, and I don't think they will be the last one, where ANZ has now progressed the fact that it's not consistent for the profession to be charging people for services, for advice that ultimately doesn't get to them,” Kell said.

Kell said ASIC had seen positive industry changes in regard to its financial adviser register.

The regulator said around 22,500 advisers are now on the register, which has been searched over 300,000 times since it was introduced in March.

“Also, what we're seeing is that firms are now coming to ASIC, and I suspect talking to each other, saying; ‘Well, we've had a problem with that adviser. We're either going to have to breach report them or we have real concerns about their behaviour’,” he said.

He said that firms were being careful to talk amongst themselves and with the regulator to make sure that advisers did not become repeat offenders.

Kell noted that this was a big change from the past, when it was almost impossible to root out ‘bad apples’ that had been moved on to other companies.

He also said reform could come just by the way advisers positioned themselves, suggesting they should refer to their “practice” and “profession”, not their “business”.

“You'd never hear a lawyer saying they run a business or a doctor talking about their business,” he said.

The comments have already been slammed by advisers who say ASIC’s focus has unfairly demonised them, and that lawyers and doctors are acutely aware they are running a business, even if they do not frame it that way.

Some have accused ASIC of working primarily with what is actually the source of the problem – big bank CEOs and heads of institutionally-aligned dealer groups.