The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued an interim stop order preventing FXCM from issuing contracts for difference (CFDs) to retail clients due to deficiencies in its target market determination (TMD). Reason for action ASIC took action after identifying that FXCM’s TMD inappropriately included investors with a medium risk appetite within the target […]
ASIC has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Focused Financial Advice Pty Ltd (FFA) after the firm failed to replace the key person named on its licence following a change in ownership. Departure of key person and failure to update licence FFA’s appointed key person left the business in 2023. Despite this, FFA […]
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 (Digital Assets Bill), which establishes a new regulatory framework for businesses that hold or deal with digital assets for customers, has now been introduced into parliament. The Digital Assets Bill introduces two new financial products into the existing definition of ‘financial product’ in the Corporations Act 2001 […]
ASIC has released Report 820: Private credit surveillance of retail and wholesale funds, highlighting good and poor practices observed in the sector. Read our summary of the key findings here:
ASIC updates INFO 225 On 29 October 2025, ASIC released its long-awaited update to Information Sheet 225 Digital assets: Financial Products and Services (INFO 225), setting out its interpretation of how Australia’s existing financial services laws apply to digital asset products and services. The release coincided with ASIC issuing its class no-action position, which gives […]
Recent regulatory surveillance conducted by ASIC has exposed significant deficiencies in how auditors across firms of all sizes demonstrate compliance with independence and conflict of interest obligations. The findings underscore that auditor independence is not merely a procedural requirement but that it is fundamental to the integrity of financial reporting and the maintenance of stakeholder […]
ASIC’s civil proceedings against Fiducian Investment Management Services Limited (Fiducian) over the now-closed Diversified Social Aspirations Fund (Fund), appear to be less about alleged greenwashing and more about Fiducian’s alleged failure to implement its own compliance controls to ensure that representations it made about the Fund’s investment strategy in disclosure documents were actually true. Alleged […]
Understanding the regulatory requirements for the nomination of a responsible manager (RM) for an application for an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee is critical in streamlining the application process. The greatest delays we see in applications (or variations) generally revolve around a failure to nominate the right person for the job. The following guidance addresses […]
The Treasury has released exposure draft legislation to establish a new regulatory framework for payment service providers (PSPs), marking a significant step in modernising Australia’s payments regulation. The exposure draft forms part of the Government’s broader payments system modernisation agenda and follows the passage of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payments System Modernisation) Act 2025 (Cth) […]
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced proceedings against Fortnum Private Wealth Ltd (Fortnum), alleging multiple breaches of its general licensee obligations under section 912A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). The proceedings serve as a timely reminder of the evolving regulatory expectations around cybersecurity governance and the supervisory responsibilities of […]