The Government is seeking public comment on draft legislation for the Asia Region Funds Passport (Passport) and on the tax treatment of Corporate Collective Investment Vehicles (CCIVs). The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services stated the Passport will allow Australian funds managers to offer their products into Asia without having to go through duplicative approval […]
ASIC has today released a review of its regulatory sandbox, introduced in December 2016. In the review ASIC proposes to retain class waivers known as the fintech licensing exemption, that allow eligible financial technology (fintech) businesses to test certain specified services without holding an Australian financial services or credit licence. ASIC had committed to reviewing […]
The Government has released exposure draft regulations providing further detail on the extension of the crowd-sourced funding (CSF) framework to proprietary companies. This is the next step in enabling proprietary companies to access equity crowdfunding, and follows the legislation introduced to the Parliament on 14 September 2017. The draft regulations also make refinements to the existing CSF […]
A new dispute resolution body with legislation to establish the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has recently been passed in the Senate. AFCA will commence operation in the second half of 2018 and will replace the existing Financial Ombudsman Service, Credit and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal. The Bill was passed with a […]
ASIC has today reported on its approach to and assessment of licence applications and professional registrations for the period July 2016 to June 2017. Report 553 Overview of licensing and professional registration applications: July 2016 to June 2017 (REP 553) provides an overview of ASIC’s activity and oversight in relation to applications for Australian financial services […]
The Government intends to introduce an industry funding model for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with the model’s Phase 2 Fees-for-service consultation paper released for stakeholder feedback. Under the ASIC Industry Funding Model, from 1 July 2018 fees-for-service will be introduced to recover ASIC regulatory costs that are directly attributable to a single, identifiable, entity. These […]
ASIC has updated regulatory guidance to confirm restrictions, that were announced in June 2017, on the use of terminology that implies independence. ASIC has updated Regulatory Guide 175 Licensing: Financial product advisers – conduct and disclosure (RG 175), to include guidance that terms such as ‘independently owned’, ‘non-aligned’ and ‘non-institutionally owned’ are restricted under the […]
A person who carries on a financial services business in Australia must hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence, subject to certain exemptions, including where the person provides a financial service as a representative of an AFS licensee. Similarly, a person must not engage in a credit activity unless the person holds an Australian credit […]
The $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) was announced on 7 December 2015 and contained a range of tax measures intended to support innovative Australian businesses. These tax measures included the introduction of the Tax Incentive for Early Stage Investors, as well as amendments to the Venture Capital Limited Partnership and Early Stage Venture Capital […]
ASIC has released a suite of new and updated guidance for the funds management industry for consultation. The six new and updated regulatory guides have been developed in advance of the upcoming new Asia Region Funds Passport and corporate collective investment vehicle (CCIV) legislation, taking into account these new areas as well as bringing ASIC’s […]