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
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
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
The first instalment in our new Regulation Tomorrow podcast series, the Australian wrap up, is now available to stream and download. In this month’s episode Jon Ireland, Ray Giblett and Timothy Chan take a deeper dive on some of the key issues identified in April’s monthly wrap up covering the recent APRA life insurance statistics, … Continue Reading
The month of April saw the release of the ASX’s consultation paper ‘Enhancing the ASX Investment Products Offering’, as well as the publication by APRA and ASIC of the latest data pertaining to claims and disputes outcomes for life insurance. April also saw ASIC extend the relief from certain dollar disclosures in PDSs for litigation … Continue Reading
The month of March saw developments in relation to major legislative initiatives and regulatory consultations. Notably, the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure Protection) Bill 2022 passed both Houses of Parliament and Amended Regulations pertaining to both Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers and the CCIV framework were registered. ASIC also opened up industry consultation on the AFS … Continue Reading
The sequel to the business interruption second test case is now here. On Monday, the Full Federal Court handed down its decision in the second business interruption test case appeal. The decision is an appeal from the judgment of Justice Jagot in relation to various business interruption insurance claims. The Full Federal Court also handed … Continue Reading
Following the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Financial and Technology Centre, Treasury has released a consultation paper on licensing and custody requirements for Crypto Asset Secondary Service Providers (CASSPrs). Consultation is currently open and will close on 27 May 2022. What is the consultation about? The consultation relates to approaches to … Continue Reading
Towards the end of February, APRA and ASIC continued to be active. In particular, both regulators released various consultation papers, draft guidance and FAQs for industry. Notably, APRA released a discussion paper on increasing superannuation data transparency and a note to APRA-regulated entities on managing compliance risk. ASIC also remade class order relief permitting insurers … Continue Reading
Open Insurance is coming! On 24 January 2022, the Treasury released the Consumer Data Right (CDR) Strategic Assessment Outcomes Report (Outcomes Report). The Outcomes Report recommended expanding Australia’s CDR to Open Finance. The recommendation follows the launch of open banking in Australia in 2020, and a number of reports concerning the expansion of the CDR … Continue Reading
As we completed a year and ushered in a new one, the December and January period turned out to be an eventful one for the insurance, managed funds and superannuation sectors. APRA has published its first ‘Choice Heatmap’, alongside its annual MySuper Heatmap, which track changes in the decision-making of super members. Meanwhile, ASIC has … Continue Reading
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published two papers designed to assist resolution planning for insurance companies. The papers are practices papers on Resolution Funding for Insurers and Internal Interconnectedness in Resolution Planning for Insurers. Resolution Funding for Insurers. This practices paper considers different sources of resolution funding including policyholder protection schemes and standalone resolution … Continue Reading
