Financial services
AFSL holders' obligations, Design and Distribution Obligations, Internal Dispute Resolution (RG 271), breach reporting, responsible lending, and product intervention powers.
25
Obligations
4
Regulators
17
Recent enforcement
Regulators
Obligations (25)
- criticalCWLTHcurrentDesign and Distribution Obligations (DDO) — RG 274
Issuers + distributors of retail financial products bound by DDO from 5 October 2021.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentReport reportable situations to ASIC within 30 days (RG 78)
AFSL/ACL holders must report reportable situations within 30 calendar days of becoming aware.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentComply with NCCP responsible lending obligations
Credit licensees must not enter into credit contracts unsuitable for the consumer.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentMortgage broker best interests duty
Brokers must act in the consumer's best interests when providing credit assistance.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentComply with Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO)
Issuers and distributors of retail financial products must have a Target Market Determination (TMD) and distribute consistently with it.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentMaintain AFCA membership (mandatory external dispute resolution)
AFSL + ACL holders must be members of AFCA — sole AU EDR scheme.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentRegister a Managed Investment Scheme under Ch 5C
Schemes with 20+ retail members must be registered with ASIC as MIS.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentLodge a prospectus for offers requiring disclosure
Offers of securities to retail investors require a prospectus or OIS lodged with ASIC.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentProvide FSG + Statement of Advice to retail clients
Financial Services Guide before service; Statement of Advice for personal advice.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentBest interests duty for financial advisers (s 961B-G)
Personal advisers must act in client's best interests + meet related obligations.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentSmall Amount Credit Contract + Consumer Lease caps (post-SACC reforms)
SACC + consumer lease fee caps + responsible lending tightened post-Royal Commission.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentHold AFSL with derivative authorisations (margin lending + CFD + binary)
Issuers of OTC derivatives to retail clients face product intervention orders + tightened conditions.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentComply with AFSL general obligations (s 912A)
AFSL holders must do all things necessary to ensure financial services are provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentMaintain adequate PI insurance (AFSL holders, RG 126)
AFSL holders providing financial services to retail clients must hold adequate professional indemnity insurance.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentBan on conflicted remuneration (FOFA)
AFSL holders and representatives must not accept conflicted remuneration in connection with retail financial product advice.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentBNPL providers — credit licensing from 10 June 2025
BNPL captured by the NCCP Act as a regulated credit product from 10 June 2025.
- criticalCWLTHcurrentConsumer Credit Hardship Notice (NCC ss 72-73)
Credit providers must respond to hardship notice + assess variation request.
- highCWLTHcurrentComply with internal dispute resolution standards (RG 271)
Financial firms must acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve within prescribed timeframes.
- highCWLTHcurrentComply with ASIC product intervention orders
Issuers and distributors must observe any product intervention order made by ASIC.
- highCWLTHcurrentProvide a current Product Disclosure Statement (s 1013A)
Retail financial product issuers must provide a current PDS before issuing.
- highCWLTHcurrentAuthorise representatives correctly (Authorised Representative regime)
AFSL holders must authorise representatives in writing and notify ASIC of new ARs within 15 business days.
- highCWLTHcurrentPre-2025 ban on unsolicited credit limit increase invitations
Credit card limit increase offers cannot be sent without prior written consent.
- highCWLTHcurrentRespond to hardship notices within statutory timeframe
Credit providers must consider hardship notices within 21 days under s 72 NCC.
- highCWLTHcurrentAFSL representative training (RG 146)
Representatives advising on financial products to retail clients must meet RG 146 training standards.
- highCWLTHcurrentDisplay comparison rate on credit product advertising
Annual percentage + comparison rate must accompany credit product ads under NCCP Regulations.
Recent enforcement
- asicregulatory implementation2025BNPL licensing in force 10 June 2025
BNPL captured by NCCP from 10 June 2025 as Low Cost Credit Contracts; transition period for existing providers.
- asicintervention2025ASIC product intervention orders 2025
ASIC product intervention orders continued in 2025 — short-term credit, BNPL post-Jun 2025 reform, CFDs (extension).
- asicintervention2024ASIC product intervention orders 2024
Multiple ASIC product intervention orders + extensions through 2024 across CFDs, binary options (now banned), pre-NCCP BNPL, short-term credit.
- afcadeterminations2024AFCA significant determinations 2024
AFCA published significant determinations through 2024 across financial advice, insurance, banking + super.
- asiccivil penalty$15.0M2024ASIC v Binance Australia
ASIC alleged Binance Australia Derivatives misclassified 500+ retail clients as wholesale; failed AFSL retail client protections.
- asiccivil penalty$7.5M2024ASIC v CBA (interest charges on credit cards)
CBA was found to have applied incorrect interest charges on credit card accounts after promotional periods, affecting thousands of customers.
- asiccourt judgment2024ASIC v CBA (mortgage broker dual-status)
ASIC proceedings on mortgage broker best interests duty + appropriate-product test.
- afcasystemic referral2024AFCA systemic-issues referrals (2023-24)
AFCA referred 300+ systemic issues to financial firms and regulators arising from complaint patterns including poor disclosure, unauthorised transactions and scam compensation.
- oaicinvestigation2024OAIC investigation — Latitude Financial 2023 breach
March 2023 Latitude breach exposed personal info of ~14M customers including 7.9M driver licences.
- asiccourt judgment2024ASIC v American Express (DDO breaches)
ASIC alleged AMEX distributed credit cards inconsistently with TMD via co-brand David Jones channel; failed to monitor early signals.
- asiccivil penalty$4.0M2024ASIC v AMP (mortgage broker BID)
AMP admitted Best Interests Duty failures.
- asicintervention2024ASIC pre-NCCP BNPL guidance + intervention powers
ASIC used product intervention + RG guidance pending BNPL NCCP commencement (10 June 2025).
- asiccivil penalty$350K2024ASIC v Block Earner (unlicensed crypto financial product)
Block Earner operated a crypto-asset 'Earner' product Federal Court found was a financial product requiring AFSL.
- asiccourt judgment2024ASIC v Finder Wallet (crypto financial product)
ASIC alleged Finder Wallet's Earn product was a financial product requiring AFSL — Federal Court ruled in Finder's favour.
- asicinvestigation2024ASIC actions arising from Greensill Capital collapse
ASIC investigation into directors' conduct around the late-2020 / early-2021 collapse of Greensill Capital.
- asiccivil penalty$750K2022ASIC v RI Advice (cyber security)
RI Advice failed to have adequate cyber security risk management systems across its authorised representative network despite multiple incidents.
- asiccivil penalty$7.6M2020ASIC v CBA (CommBank credit card pricing)
CBA failed to properly apply credit card promotional interest rates after promotional period for ~3,000 customers.