The Government is making some additional changes to the opt-in aspects of the Future of Financial Advice Bill to provide greater flexibility to industry whilst ensuring consumer protection is maintained. The opt-in obligation requires financial advisers to renew their clients’ agreement to ongoing fees every two-years.  While this is an important protection to ensure clients do not pay open-ended, ongoing fees while receiving little or no service, some parts of industry argue this requirement is unnecessary where advisers are members of professional bodies or professional codes which obviate the need for opt-in (for example, if a code requires advisers provide an ongoing service to clients if they charge an ongoing fee). The Government will give ASIC the ability to exempt advisers from the opt-in obligation if they are satisfied that the adviser is signed up to a professional code which obviates the need for opt-in. This ensures that consumers are adequately protected – either by a professional body, or failing that, the opt-in provisions in the law.