Briefing for Limited AFS Licensees

It has been almost 12 months since the requirement that all accountants who provide services covering Self-Managed Superannuation Funds be appropriately licensed. Accountants could either obtain their own Australian Financial Services (“AFS”) Licence, or be appointed as an Authorised Representative of a licensee with the appropriate authorisations.

Ariel & Associates Pty Ltd invites you to a free briefing to assist you with your obligations as financial services provider, especially as we approach financial year end.

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ASIC’s Approach to Regulatory Technology

In March 2015, ASIC established an Innovation Hub which was designed to assist financial technology (“fintech”) businesses navigate the financial services system. Similarly, ASIC has taken proactive steps to ensure it engages with industry in regard to developments in regulatory technology (“regtech”).

ASIC has defined regtech as “the use of new technologies to solve regulatory and compliance requirements more effectively and efficiently. These technologies could include use of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, data reporting, regulatory codification and big data analysis technologies.”

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Proposals to consolidate the ASIC Market Integrity Rules

As a result of the growing number of market operators in the Australian financial sector, market market supervision and real-time surveillance was transferred from the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) to ASIC in August 2010. As a result, ASIC drafted specific rules for each Market Operator, which became known as the Market Integrity Rules.

There are Market Integrity Rules for all current Market Operators - including the ASX, ASX24, Chi-X, National Stock Exchange of Australia (“NSXA”), Sydney Stock Exchange and Financial and Energy Exchange. Additional Rules have been drafted to cover competition in market rules and capital requirements.

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