The Finance Industry’s Authorisation schemes (FinAut)
- FinAut is a subsidiary company of Finance Norway and the Norwegian Fund and Asset Management Association established in 2009.
- As of 2022 FinAut has more than 158 affiliated companies and 10 000 authorized financial and insurance advisors.
- FinAut authorize professionals in the industry, based on tests and a disciplinary procedure for violations of rules.
- As a self-regulatory body, FinAut creates value for customers, companies and society.
- To assure customer protection, the industry is set to deliver the same quality regardless of distribution channels and technology.
Competence requirements and authorisation
The authorisation includes a knowledge exam, an ethics exam, and a practical exam. The exams are based on competence requirements defined by FinAut and its members.
FinAut provides authorisation for:
- Savings and investment
- Loan
- Life insurance
- Non-life insurance
- Life insurance - corporate
- Non-life insurance - corporate
- Robo-advisors
Look for the authorisation marks and search for authorised advisors at www.finaut.no.
Standards of ethics
The financial industry meets key needs in society. It is the link between all of the economic actors when it comes to loans and credit, managing savings, making payments, offloading risk and safeguarding lives and property.
High levels of expertise are essential for those who work in the industry.
Standards of ethics in the distribution system are particularly important for financial institutions to fulfill their role, be taken seriously and maintain a good reputation.
The reputation of the individual financial institution depends largely on high-quality customer-facing work. An understanding of ethics is important, but not sufficient.
For the industry to fulfill its role in society and business in a good way and achieve the necessary credibility, it is important that employees are able to:
- Act professionally and trustworthy
- Identify and reflect on ethical dilemmas
- Raise and discuss ethical dilemmas with colleagues or managers
- Justify their decisions in an unbiased manner
Code of Good Practice
The rules apply to all of FinAut’s members in connection with advice, information, guidance and sales in the consumer market. The rules apply to both personal service and to digital processes.
The business shall ensure that the rules are complied with.
Management in particular are responsible for avoiding routines and systems, including rewards systems, that are not compatible with the rules.
Advice is defined as a personal recommendation to a customer.
Gamification as a learning method: The Ethics Boost
FinAut has collaborated with the gaming company Attensi to develop the Ethics Boost, a tool with ethics as content.
Attensi’s gamified training solutions are designed to bridge the knowledge gap, encourage repetition and make learning fun again.
FinAut members use the Ethics Boost as a tool for building ethics competence within their companies, and especially as a preparing tool for the authorised candidates.
Robo-advisors
The Norwegian bank Sbanken, became the first in the world to achieve authorisation for it’s robot advisor in June 2021. With this, the Norwegian financial industry has become the first in the world with certified financial robot advisor.
Norwegian robo-advisors have a deadline to become authorized on 31 December 2023. This applies to robo-advisors within savings and investment, non-life insurance and personal insurance. After 1 January 2024, no robot-advisors shall be launched without authorization.
The path to authorisation: How to build knowledge and competence
The authorisation of a financial advisor includes a knowledge exam, an ethics exam, and a practical exam. The exams are based on competence requirements defined by FinAut and its members.
Employers can choose their own curriculum, training method and suppliers for competence building. To maintain the authorisation, the advisor must follow the CPD Program and act within the Code of Good Practice.
