The Association
of Financial Agents
and Advisers

We are an organization with an ambition to represent and assert the professional interests of financial agents and financial advisers. AFISP, a union of 25 members at present, is an organization representing 62% of financial agents active in financial intermediation and counseling.

The Association

We came into existence on May 11th, 1997 as a volunteer civil association. We are an organization with an ambition to represent and assert the professional interests of financial agents and financial advisers. Our activities focus on four basic areas of activities:

Legislation -  participation in creation of the regulation of business and assertion of professional interests of financial agents and financial advisers

Education - professional activities for a special financial education of financial agents and education of the public, support to meet requirements for professional qualification of financial agents

The ethics of business – protection of the clients´ interests, supervision over business ethics, ethics of mutual relationships among the Association members and competitors and over the quality of provided services of financial agents

Distribution of information – the development of information duties of the Association members on performance/efficiency in separate sectors of financial market, distribution of information on functioning of financial market to the public

AFISP, a union of 25 members at present, is an organization representing 62% of financial agents active in financial intermediation and counseling. The scope of its activities is regulated by the Association Statutes.

The Association Statutes

Its members represent more than 10, 000 subordinate financial agents registered in compliance with Act No 186/2009 Coll. on Financial Intermediation and Financial Counseling as amended by the Slovak National Bank. AFISP develops its professional links with other associations active on the financial market. In the field of professional education we have signed memoranda on cooperation with the Slovak Association of Insurance Companies, the Slovak Bank Association and the Association of Brokers. We have an ambition to create the best practices of enterprise and to develop the conditions for protection of the interests of financial customers. Since 2010 AFISP, has been in charge, authorized by the Slovak National Bank, of managing the professional intermediate level examinations of professional competence for financial agents.

AFISP Authorities

Board of Supervisors
Chairman: Ing. Gabriel Hinzeller PhD.;  Members: Mgr. Andrea Soukupová, Ing. Marcel Zeleňák, Ing. Jaroslav Vonkomer

AFISP Members

Our Association is interested in new members, who will appreciate in their busisness activities the existence of a platform facilitating their professional growth, fulfilment of conditions of professional qualification, protection of justified interests and support for permanent accord of their own activities with valid legal regulations. Only legal persons pursuing financial intermediation or financial counseling as independent financial agents can become regular members. The membership is approved upon properly filled in and documented application which shall be approved by the Association Board of Directors at the closest meeting after the receipt of the application.

The membership of a new member takes effect from the moment of the payment of the membership fees. The membership fee is approved by the General Assembly of regular members. A statutory representative of an independent financial agent or adviser can become a member only after a previous or simultaneous acceptance of these legal persons as a regular member. For the year 2013 the Board of Directores proposed the membership fee in the amout of 500,- EUR for the first year of membership; 1000,- EUR for the second and following years when Independent financial agent has up to 100 Subordinating financial agents and 2000,- EUR for the members with more than 100 Subordinating financial agents. This proposal will be finaly approved on the regular session of the General Assambly in 2013.

Financial intermediation is a special type of enterprise in the financial market regulated by Act No. 186/2009 Coll.on Financial Intermediation and Financial Counselling and on amendments and supplements to certain laws. Financial intermediation can be pursued only by persons holding a license for this activity granted by the National Bank od Slovakia and holding a position of indepedent financial agents and registered in the list of supervised subjects on the webpage of National Bank od Slovakia http://regfap.nbs.sk/zoznam.php. The financial agents themselves do business on the basis of the contracts with financial institutions within the following sectors::

• Insusurance and reinsurance
• Capital market
• Receiving of deposits
• Granting credits
• Supplementary pension saving
• Old age pension saving

1. The subject-matter of financial intermediation are the activities pursuant to Article 2 of the Act on Financial Intermediation and Financial Counseling:

• submission of offers to conclude a contract for the provision of a financial service, conclusion of the contract for the provision of a financial service and pursuance of further activities leading to the conclusion or to the amendment of the contract for the provision of a financial service,
• provision of expert assistance, information and advice to a client in order to conclude or terminate a contract for the provision of a financial service,
• cooperation in the administration of a contract for the provision of a financial service where the financial service nature makes such cooperation possible,
• cooperation at the handling and settlement of claims arising to a client from a contract for the provision of a financial service, in particular in connection with the events being crucial for the the occurrence of such claims where the financial service nature allows such cooperation.

2. Besides the activities referred to in paragraph (1), financial intermediation within the capital market sector shall include also

• provision of investment services, receiving and delegation of client’s instructions concerning negotiable securities, mutual fund allotment certificates and securities of foreign subjects of collective investment, and their promotion,
• provision of investment counselling in relation to negotiable securities, mutual fund allotment certificates and securities issued by foreign subjects of collective investment.

3.At the pursuance of the activities referred to in paragraph (2) subparagraph (a), the instructions may be delegated only to a bank, foreign bank pursuing its activities in the Slovak Republic, securities dealer, foreign securities dealer pursuing its activities in the Slovak Republic, or to a trust company, foreign trust company pursuing its activities in the Slovak Republic or pursuing the activity of a foreign investment company or offering publicly its securities in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

4. Besides the activities referred to in paragraph (1), financial intermediation within the insurance or reinsurance sector shall include also recognition, assessment and elaboration of analyses of insurance risks related to the insurance products offered.

5. Financial intermediation pursued in compliance with this Act constitutes business activities.

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