On 27 July 2026, the Australian Treasury issued for consultation an exposure draft of regulations that extend the class exemptions to the deferred sales model (DSM) for add-on insurance until 2031. Furthermore, the Australian Treasury is seeking input on whether any new class exemptions should be granted.
Background
The DSM is set out
On 16 July 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) both published updated Statements of Intent outlining how they will achieve their objectives, carry out their responsibilities and exercise their powers. APRA’s Statement of Intent also reaffirms APRA’s commitment to being
On 21 July 2026, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a targeted report on the regulatory challenges from decentralised finance (DeFi).
Background
In 2019, the FATF updated Recommendation15 and extended the application of the FATF Standards to virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
On 7 July 2026, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) finalised its amendments to the general insurance (GI) reinsurance framework.
Background
The final changes are set out in APRA’s response paper following two rounds of consultation that took place in November 2024 and October 2025. The purpose of the reforms are
On 7 July 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a new legislative instrument for operators of investor directed portfolio services (IDPS) and IDPS-like schemes.
Background
The new legislative instrument follows an earlier consultation that ASIC conducted on the proposed simplification of the platform instruments in Report 813 Regulatory
On 30 June 2026, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) published the findings of its inaugural System Risk Stress Test (SRST), which focused on links between the banking and superannuation system. The SRST took place last year and covered four major banks and six large superannuation funds and examined how a
On 29 June 2026, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) issued a consultation paper, Getting the balance right on financial resilience – Workstream 1: Credit risk capital.
The consultation paper follows APRA’s previous commitment to consult on reforms to bank capital and liquidity settings. It is the first of three work steams
On 29 June 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued Report 833 – Safeguarding super: How well are platform trustees monitoring risks to retirement savings?
ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority have been concerned about gaps in trustees’ oversight of advisers, advice licensees and investments that are made available to
On 25 June 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it was extending its sector-wide no-action position on digital asset businesses to 30 September 2026.
Background
In Consultation Paper 381 Updates to INFO 225: Digital assets: Financial products and services (CP 381), ASIC proposed a class no-action position
On 17 June 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it is collecting and publishing website addresses of Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees on its Professional Registers Search (PRS), with more than 6,500 AFS licensees invited to provide their website details since launching in early