blog

This update covers: FAR, Crypto risks, deposit rate investigation, cancellations of AFSLs and Sean Hughes' departure from ASIC....

Covering Banking Code, IR Derivatives, FIRB Penalties, Greenwashing and the Financial advisers register....

Finder (ASIC): ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Finder Wallet Pty Ltd, for allegedly providing unlicensed financial services, breaching product disclosure requirements and failing to comply with design and di...

American express (ASIC): ASIC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Amex, in ASIC’s first civil penalty case alleging breaches of design and distribution obligations. ASIC alleges that:1) the target market determinations issued by...

Crypto custody (Treasury):Treasury has announced that there will be custody rules introduced for digital assets in 2023. The exclusive in this AFR article (linkhere), provides that Treasury will open consultations to safeguard crypto custody arrangem...

FTX (Regulation): The digital assets world has been rocked by the liquidity run on FTX the week, the world's second largest exchange, and the near buyout by Binance, the world's largest exchange. While there are various reasons being put forward for ...

ASIC inquiry (Parliament):On 27 October 2022, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services began an inquiry into ASICs capacity and capability to respond to reports of alleged misconduct. The committee will call for writte...

Financial Accountability Regime (Parliament): As expected, the Senate Committee examining the reintroduced FAR bill has give it the tick of approval, stating, "The committee is of the view that accountability measures, such as the existence of bannin...

Crypto Stop Orders (ASIC): ASIC has just issued an interim stop order on Holon (its tenth to date), which offers various crypto funds to retail investors, on the basis that it thinks that Holon has not appropriately considered the features and risks ...

FAR & Breach Reporting (ASIC): I attended the Credit Law Conference earlier in the week, where ASIC Commissioner Sean Hughes provided an update on the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) and breach reporting. My key notes are: - the Financial Accou...

Crypto Report (Parliament): I have now spent a bit of time on the new crypto bill. By way of reminder, on 19 September 2022, Senator Andrew Bragg released a draft private members bill, entitled the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2022 (the Bi...

Remediation Plan (ASIC): ASIC has released its new remediation guidance, RG 277. Mandatory reading for anyone who deals with breach reporting, and fixing the problems that arise up, RG 277: clarifies nine principles for conducting a remediation, whic...

Licensing update (ASIC): I attended an ASIC licensing update earlier in the week, and it was fascinating! My notes are in my weekly newsletter, which you can access here (reach out to me if you wish to be on the emailing list). The resourcing, consis...

FAR (Parliament): The FAR bill is in Parliament, and is likely to pass in the Spring sitting which ends in December 2022. See here for details. The Government is now seeking stakeholder views on the Minister Rules. The Minister Rules prescribe......

FAR (Parliament): IT. IS. FINALLY. HERE. AND. I. AM. EXCITED! This week, the Federal Government introduced the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2022 (Cth). The bill reintroduces the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2021 (Cth), which was intro...

FAR (ASIC): Information from an ASIC session with the Chair and Commissioners this week in which I took the following notes. FAR will be passed in Spring sitting. It will come into effect for ADIs in March 2023. It will come into effect for Super / I...

Token Mapping (Treasury): The Government has announced that Treasury will prioritise token mapping work in 2022, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated. The aim will be to identify notable gaps in the regu...

AG Priorities (Government): The meeting of the Federal and State Attorney-Generals has occurred with them setting out their common reform priorities. Not much from a financial services regulatory perspective. They continue to focus on defamation, acc...

Corporate Plan (APRA): APRA's new Corporate Plan for 2022/2023 is based around the twin themes of protecting the community today, as well as ensuring the Australian financial system is prepared for tomorrow. The plan is designed to respond to rapid c...

CSLR (ASIC): Such an interesting time for updates from the corporate regulator, who has advised that "Former clients of Dixon Advisory and Superannuation Services Pty Limited (in administration, Dixon Advisory) may be eligible for compensation under ...