ASIC proposes reviewing relief instruments for financial services licensees

The two instruments will lapse in 2026.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is proposing to remake relief instruments for Australian financial services licensees (AFS) and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs).

The two instruments, the ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2016/186 and ASIC Corporations (Licence Conditions—Treatment of Lease Assets) Instrument 2021/229, are due to lapse in April and May 2026, respectively.

ASIC Instrument 2016/186 exempts foreign licensees from certain record keeping obligations.

It also exempts them from the requirement to lodge financial statements and have the statements audited under the Corporations Act.

It also exempts foreign ADIs from the requirement to hold an AFS licence when dealing in derivatives and foreign exchange contracts on their own behalf.

Meanwhile, ASIC Instrument 2021/229 specifies that a right-of-use asset under a lease is not an excluded asset for the purposes of a licensee’s duty to comply with its licence conditions.