However, he warned there was a long way to go and the register was the first part in what Mr Mayhew expected to be a lengthy process of regaining the confidence of the investing public.
"We are now getting the industry engaged. The industry has been good at responding.
"Once the new rules are in place, then consumers will be able to ask financial advisers if they are registered."
If Mr Mayhew is feeling the pressure of overseeing what has been called landmark legislation by the Government, he is not showing it.
He is one of two full-time commissioners with the Securities Commission.
The other is chairwoman Jane Diplock.
"The Securities Commission is responsible for this particularly important regime that involves many different agencies.
"Commerce Minister Simon Power is looking to the commission to deliver and the chair is looking at me.
"Those financial advisers who understand have grabbed the opportunity with both hands and enthusiasm," he said in an interview.
By December 1, financial service providers must be registered and must belong to a dispute resolution scheme.
Financial advisers who might be working under a qualifying financial entity, or whose qualifying financial entity was still awaiting approval, have until March 31 to register.
The Financial Advisers Act and the Financial Service Providers Act will come into force on July 1, 2011.
All financial advisers who need authorisation from the Securities Commission must have completed their training and finalised their authorisation by that date.
Mr Mayhew said financial advisers had to be authorised by the commission to provide advice to the public on things like KiwiSaver.
Registered advisers could give advice on other products such as insurance and mortgage products, as they were thought to be less risky.
But all people giving advice on financial products had to be registered, including banking staff, foreign exchange dealers, mortgage and insurance brokers, he said.
The overarching thrust of the legislation was to lift the professional standards of the industry and to ensure greater integrity among professionals who gave investment advice.
Later this year, an education campaign aimed at the investing public will be launched.
"The road back to confidence is a long process.
"Lots of factors need to be considered."
Those factors included the collapse of finance companies in New Zealand, as well as the collapse of the global financial industry, Mr Mayhew said.
Encouraging people to invest in capital markets rather than a second house was essential to stimulating economic growth and part of that was encouraging people to take advice by improving the quality of that advice.
"We are not regulating away the risk. Risk and reward go together.
"We don't want the public expecting that because there is a new environment it will be risk free.
"People investing have to make their own decisions, albeit with advice."
Mr Mayhew hoped once the education campaign was under way, people would better understand how investment rates worked and how they rewarded risk.
He believed some finance companies should have been offering returns of 25% instead of the 10% or 11% on offer before they collapsed.
Institute of Financial Advisers Otago branch chairman Don Broad said people were still attracted to high interest rates without realising the risk they posed.
"An adviser's role is educating the client so they can understand what they are dealing with.
"If we feel a client doesn't understand, then we shouldn't be doing it," he said.
The Mayhew file
Who: David Mayhew (56)
What: Commissioner for Financial Advisers.
• Born in Dunedin, attended Otago Boys' High School and the University of Otago.
• Started his law career in Auckland, shifted to London for 28 years.
• One of two full-time commissioners with the Securities Commissioner.
