The recent Federal Court decision in ASIC v Auto & General Insurance Company Limited [2024] FCA 272 is the first decision to apply the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime in the context of insurance since its expansion to insurance policies on 5 April 2021. On 22 March 2024, Jackman J delivered a judgment in favour … Continue Reading
Authors: Ray Giblett, James Morris, Rajaee Rouhani, Stephen Lee, Jeremy Moller, Charles Nugent-Young, Merren Taylor, Timothy Chan, Joshua Kan, Dylan Sault and Steven Li Welcome to our first wrap up of the year! We are looking forward to sharing more updates with you this year. November 2023 The month of November saw many new developments … Continue Reading
In this latest episode of our EMEA regulatory insights series colleagues from Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore provide their thoughts and insights on what 2024 holds from a financial services regulatory perspective. The podcast can be found here.… Continue Reading
October was another busy month in the financial services regulatory space. ASIC issued a number of new legislative instruments to continue the relief available under sunsetting class orders, while also removing certain notification obligations under the reportable situations regime. Interestingly, these changes were followed by ASIC’s second publication on insights from the reportable situations regime, … Continue Reading
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has finalised Prudential Standard CPS 230 (Operational Risk Management) (CPS 230) following a year-long industry consultation. The new prudential standard commences on 1 July 2025 and applies to all APRA-regulated entities, encompassing banks, insurers (general, life and health) and registrable superannuation entity licensees. This article focuses on the implications … Continue Reading
If you are feeling a case of déjà vu after reading this headline, you are not alone. Just over two years since the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime came into effect for insurance contracts, a revamped regime commences on 9 November 2023. Insurers are yet again reviewing insurance contracts that may now be caught by … Continue Reading
September 2023 was a busy month for regulators in the financial services space. ASIC called on licensees to strengthen remediation procedures, issued new legislative instruments to replace sunsetting class orders, and released its 2023 annual licensing report. Meanwhile, APRA announced various new and proposed updates to its prudential standards and commenced consultation on a range … Continue Reading
On 16 October 2023 the Australian Federal Treasury released its public consultation paper regarding the proposed regulatory regime for digital asset platforms. The proposed framework highlights the Australian Government’s intention to ensure consistent oversight and safeguards for consumers by regulating digital asset platforms and other intermediaries within the existing Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) regime … Continue Reading
The months of June and July have seen a flurry of regulatory developments. Treasury has committed to adopting the bulk of the Quality of Advice Review Recommendations, published its second consultation paper on climate disclosure and has announced its intention to uplift Superannuation Performance Testing. As expected with the close of the financial year, disclosure … Continue Reading
While the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2023 (Cth) (Bill)is still before the Senate, APRA and ASIC (Regulators) have already released draft Regulator rules for consultation. The Regulator rules provide some guidance on what APRA considers a key function for the purposes of assigning responsibility to ‘accountable persons’. If passed by Parliament, the Bill will establish … Continue Reading
The month of May saw a broad range of activities within the financial services industry. ASIC released the results of its review into compliance with the design and distribution obligations as well as updating the industry on their greenwashing actions. ASIC also commenced proceedings against an insurer, alleging unfair contract terms in an insurance contract, … Continue Reading
April was another fast moving month in the financial services sector. ASIC released updates to the breach reporting requirements to introduce new guidance and clarify existing guidance regarding reportable situations. The regulator also provided further communications surrounding the superannuation performance test, as well as commenced proceedings against an insurance company alleging unfair contract terms in … Continue Reading
The month March was a busy month which saw some significant developments in the financial services sector. Notably, ASIC is currently consulting on class orders about financial requirements in considering whether to remake certain class orders. The regulator is also consulting on ‘sunsetting’ class orders changing responsible entities and equal treatment. ASIC also granted conditional … Continue Reading
The month of February saw ASIC and APRA outlining their plans for the year ahead. ASIC announced that it would be expanding its enforcement focus areas in 2023 and published a timeline for regulatory developments. It also released its first Indigenous Financial Services Framework, which was a landmark document for the regulator. APRA released its … Continue Reading
As 2022 came to a close, the regulators concluded the year with a busy month in December. Notably, ASIC ended the year by reminding stakeholders of the importance of ensuring that claims made in relation to a product were accurate, especially in the context of environmental claims, reflecting ASIC’s increased focus on greenwashing in 2022. … Continue Reading
On 24 November 2022, following an application from an insurer and further consultation with industry, consumers and government stakeholders, ASIC introduced the ASIC Corporations (Financial Services Guides) Instrument 2022/910 (Instrument) to provide relief to certain Authorised Representatives of Australian financial services licensees (ARs) from complying with the requirement to provide a Financial Services Guide. This … Continue Reading
The month of November saw a flurry of regulatory activity by APRA and ASIC across strategic focus areas: crypto-asset regulation, enforcement of design and distribution obligations, reforming operational risk requirements for super funds and improving governance practices across the superannuation industry at investment and board levels. Meanwhile, AUSTRAC launched two consultations on proposed changes and … Continue Reading
October has been a busy month for regulators with both ASIC and APRA releasing their reports on the 2021/22 financial year. The chairs of both regulators, in addressing the House of Representatives, signalled their progress in the past year and their goals for the year ahead. The month of October 2022 also saw both ASIC … Continue Reading
September saw a variety of regulatory changes from ASIC, APRA, AUSTRAC and ACCC in the financial services sector. Meanwhile, ASIC conducted a review into claims made by funds in their marketing material, finding that many did not adequately explain the risk profile of the investment. ASIC also exempted insurers from releasing a cash settlement fact … Continue Reading
The month of August saw a broad array of regulatory updates from ASIC and APRA. Notably, ASIC announced an extension of the transitional relief for foreign financial services providers from the requirement to hold an Australian Financial Services licence. August also saw ASIC release its corporate plan illustrating its strategic priorities for the next four … Continue Reading
The month of July saw a suite of regulatory and industry updates following the start of a new financial year. Notably, ASIC announced assistance for unlisted companies and issued its report on its enforcement and regulatory actions. It also announced that it will be taking new measures designed to strengthen the financial system by regular … Continue Reading
Australia has a vibrant InsurTech ecosystem and similarities between the UK and Australian insurance markets, together with the promise of sunny weather, make the land down under a great option for InsurTechs looking to set up shop abroad. In this article, in collaboration with the UK Department for International Trade, we share some things to … Continue Reading
The month of June saw an increase of material regulatory and industry updates following the Australian federal election. ASIC released further industry guidance for its expectations regarding sustainability disclosure and has released the remade instruments on disclosure relief for product disclosure statements, Financial Service Guides and superannuation dashboards. As we move towards the second superannuation … Continue Reading
The month of May brought a lower number of material regulatory and industry updates due to the Australian federal election. ASIC cancelled the registration of a number of SMSF auditors for failing to lodge their annual statements. In superannuation, APRA published its Quarterly Superannuation Performance publication and Quarterly MySuper Statistics Report, which provides material superannuation … Continue Reading
