Regulatory Updates

ASIC has updated two Information Sheets relating to employer and trustee obligations when it comes to interacting with each other …

Colonial First State Investments Limited, as trustee for the Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust, has been ordered by …

ASIC has released ASIC Annual Report 2020-21.  The Report sets out ASIC’s achievements during 2020-21, including:

• making interventions and …

The ability to use technology to meet regulatory requirements is likely to become permanent for companies and registered schemes after …

AFCA reports that draft legislation relating to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort will soon be released.  The scheme as …

AFCA released its 2020-21 Annual Review and appointed seven new Senior Ombudsmen.

The Review reveals that between 1 July 2020 …

A number of October regulatory reforms are being quietly tidied up where the drafting was not quite as tight as …

Some licensees found it confusing in October when they looked for new requirements in the Corporations Act 2001 or the …

If your licensee was in a mad rush to prepare for the new regulatory changes at the start of October, …

Companies subject to the whistleblowing requirements are being urged to review their whistleblower policies after ASIC assessed a random sample …

In conducting licensee reviews for our clients, we look at their documented compliance arrangements and speak with their staff.  One …

The following items were open for consultation in September 2021:

Draft Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Reporting and Auditing Requirements for …

Financial Regulator Assessment Authority takes off

The government announced the appointment of the inaugural members of the Financial Regulator Assessment …

The Financial Action Task Force, the global group that sets international AML/CTF standards, has published a White Paper which …

With its System Transformation Program, AUSTRAC is changing the way that reporting entities will access and report to AUSTRAC in …

AUSTRAC has released four new ML/TF risk assessments which analyse the level of criminal threat and ML/TF risk posed by: …

Organisations interested in varying an existing licence or applying for a new one may find it useful to look at …

ASIC has charged a director of a credit licensee with making a false statement in the annual compliance certificate lodged …

ASIC Enforcement Update January to June 2021 Report 699 gives insights into ASIC’s enforcement priorities.

The Update notes that ASIC …

This month, ASIC action in relation to false and misleading representations, and misleading and deceptive conduct, has been a recurring …

CBA faces criminal charges in relation to the alleged mis-selling of consumer credit insurance between 2011 and 2015.

After investigation …

A number of licensees authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients have been asked to provide to ASIC a …

FASEA announced that over 16,000 advisers have now passed the Financial Adviser Exam.  Only 60 per cent of candidates passed …

The Government has announced “temporary and targeted relief for financial advisers by reducing the cost recovery levies charged by the …

ASIC Chair, Joseph Longo, delivered a speech to the Association of Financial Advisers, in which he acknowledged existing challenges for …

ASIC published Information Sheet 264 FAQs: Design and distribution obligations for advice licensees and financial advisers.  The Information Sheet …

Restrictions on the way add-on insurance may be sold come into effect on 5 October 2021.  These restrictions, sometimes known …

The Federal Court has made declarations that Colonial First State Investments Limited made false or misleading representations and engaged in …

All licensees need to take care to avoid engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct.  Provisions prohibiting this conduct appear in …

A recent ASIC survey of superannuation trustees found that they had more work to do to get prepared for the …

The Government released a new Statement of Expectations for ASIC.  The new Statement follows the appointment of Joseph Longo as …

The website for the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry will be decommissioned by …

On 5 October 2021, a modified anti-hawking regime will come into play in relation to financial products.  The Financial Sector …

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released a set of “universal privacy principles”, in collaboration with State and …

ASIC Deputy Chair, Karen Chester, delivered a speech to Risk Australia 2021 about risk-management and governance and, particularly, conduct risk. …

The Chair of ASIC, Joseph Longo, appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services in relation to …

A quiet update from Treasury on 6 September resolves some inconsistencies in the new breach reporting regime.

Under the requirements …

ASIC has at last released an updated version of Regulatory Guide 78 Breach reporting by AFS licensees and credit licensees …

There’s a saying in improv: “Bring a brick, not a cathedral”.

While improv and the wonderful world of crypto …

Retirement Income Covenant.  The Government was consulting on its retirement income covenant position paper.  The proposed covenant would place …

Problems with the financial services regulatory regime

The Australian Law Reform Commission, which is inquiring into the potential simplification of …

AUSTRAC has released proposed amendments to the AML/CTF Rules for public consultation. The amendments add Chapters 79 and 80 and …

AUSTRAC has received reports of scammers sending emails to reporting entities and members of the public, pretending to be from …

The Australian Foreign Minister has announced that the Government plans to introduce amendments to the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 by …

FATF has published two recent updates relating to international ML/TF risk.

The updates relate to jurisdictions which may pose a …

AUSTRAC is continuing to improve its system and has continued to address issues faced by reporting entities through its System …

On 6 August, Holley Nethercote and other parties appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and …

A search of AFCA’s recently published determinations reveals that it has recently considered complaints lodged by users of digital currency …

Even though AFCA membership is a well-known part of a credit licensee’s general conduct obligations, 24 credit licensees had their …

FASEA reports that 14,850 advisers passed the relevant providers exam prior to July 2021.  This represents close to 70 per …