What is General Insurance?

Australia’s new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) reforms have now started.

From 1 July 2026, Australia’s AML/CTF laws will extend to newly regulated (tranche 2) entities across several sectors. This includes:

• real estate professionals
• conveyancers
• dealers in precious metals, stones and products
• legal professionals
• accountants
• trust and company service providers.

If you work in one of these sectors, the new obligations will apply to your business from this date.

Financial crime fuels serious harm – from cybercrime to human trafficking. Your business is in a unique position to identify suspicious activity and help prevent financial crime, which costs Australia up to $82 billion a year.

If you’re unsure if the new laws will apply to you, you can check if you’ll be regulated on AUSTRAC’s website.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has today released a consultation package on remaking Level 3 conglomerate prudential standards. APRA proposes to remake the standards with minor amendments to ensure the standards remain current. Written submissions are due by 29 May 2026.

The consultation package can be viewed on APRA’s website at: Remaking Level 3 conglomerate standards

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has finalised amendments to its prudential standards on the capital treatment of longevity products, including annuities, to strengthen the market for retirement income products.

The reforms reflect APRA’s commitment to support innovation and reduce unnecessary regulatory constraints, while maintaining strong prudential safeguards. Better aligning capital settings with the long-term nature of longevity liabilities enhances capital efficiency and creates a more proportionate and risk-sensitive framework.

APRA Member Suzanne Smith said: “We’re backing innovation in retirement income and we’re doing it safely. As the prudential regulator, we always look for opportunities to refine our requirements. These adjustments to capital settings will free up insurers to invest in sustainable, competitively priced products that help Australians retire with greater confidence.”

The key change is the introduction of an option for insurers to use an advanced illiquidity premium (AILP) when determining capital requirements for longevity products. This approach better reflects the long‑term nature of these liabilities. To underpin the AILP option, APRA has also introduced additional risk controls relating to the governance, reporting and asset composition of portfolios to which it is applied. Together, the reforms provide a more risk-sensitive, principles‑based approach that reduces procyclicality in capital settings, while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

The final reform contributes to APRA’s strategic objective of ‘getting the balance right’ by ensuring its regulation is efficient and proportionate. It follows two rounds of consultation with industry feedback strongly supporting the changes.

The final prudential standards and APRA’s response paper are available at: Proposed changes to capital framework for annuity products

The reforms will come into effect on 1 July 2026. To support implementation, APRA has released a reporting template for insurers who choose to use the AILP and is seeking feedback on the template by 12 May 2026.

ASIC has remade two legislative instruments, which give technical relief to Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and modify required reverse-mortgage disclosures by Australian credit licensees.

The legislative instruments are:

• ASIC Corporations (Miscellaneous Technical Relief) Instrument 2026/115, and
• ASIC Credit (Updated details for prescribed disclosure) Instrument 2026/122.

These instruments will expire on 1 April 2031.

ASIC consulted on remaking the technical relief and updated credit disclosure instruments in December 2025 and received no submissions.

In addition to remaking the relief, we will:

• make ASIC Corporations (Amendment) Instrument 2026/116, which incorporates consequential amendments to other ASIC instruments, and
• incorporate minor amendments to RG 121 in April 2026.

ASIC has remade a legislative instrument providing relief for foreign companies that are Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) and extended other relief following consultation with industry.

ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121 exempts:

• foreign licensees from record keeping obligations, and the requirement to lodge financial statements and have them audited under Div 6 of Pt 7.8 of the Corporations Act 2001, and
• foreign ADIs from the requirement to hold an AFS licence when dealing in derivatives and foreign exchange contracts on their own behalf.

The new instrument will replace ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2016/186. It will expire on 1 April 2031.

Three large proprietary companies associated with the Mecca group have paid $594,000 in infringement notices after allegedly failing to lodge audited financial reports on time.

Mecca Brands Pty Ltd, Mecca Brands NZ Pty Ltd and RTCH Pty Ltd each paid an infringement notice of $198,000, after allegedly failing to lodge audited financial reports for the year ended 28 December 2024 within the statutory timeframe.

The reports were due by 28 April 2025.

ASIC began inquiries with Mecca in July 2025, and the companies lodged their financial statements shortly after being contacted by ASIC.

Payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability, and the companies are not regarded as having been convicted of the alleged offence.

Mecca is an Australian beauty retailer. There are over 110 Mecca stores across Australia and New Zealand, in addition to an online store.

The specific reasons for ASIC’s concerns are set out in the infringement notice on the Infringement Notices Register.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has appointed two new Executive Directors to fill recent vacancies.

Peter Diamond has been promoted from General Manager of Banking to Executive Director of General Insurance and Banking. He replaces Jane Magill who moved to become Executive Director of Life and Private Health Insurance and Superannuation following the departure of Carmen Beverley-Smith.

Peter Kohlhagen has been promoted from General Manager of Superannuation to Executive Director of Policy and Advice following the resignation of Sean Carmody.

A recruitment process to fill the General Manager positions left vacant by today’s appointments will commence shortly and will be conducted internally and externally.

The Department of Home Affairs and AUSTRAC have been working to finalise transitional rules to support a smooth implementation of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) reforms.

The transitional rules give some reporting entities more time to update their systems, processes and AML/CTF programs. Different transitional arrangements apply depending on your enrolment date and the designated services you provide.

The transitional rules have been made into law and are in effect from 31 March. For a detailed summary of the changes visit AML Transitional Rules 2026.
Main areas impacted

There will be a transitional period for initial customer due diligence (CDD) for current reporting entities (REs):

• Current REs can choose to keep using current applicable customer identification procedures (ACIP) instead of the new initial CDD obligations.
• From 1 July 2026, current REs can only use ACIP if they have a transition plan in their AML/CTF programs to move to the new initial CDD requirements.

There will be a registration roll-over:

• If you’re already registered with us, you don’t need to register again.
• If you’re already registered as a digital currency exchange provider, you’ll automatically be registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP).

AML/CTF program obligations for new virtual asset designated services will also be deferred until 1 July 2026.

International funds transfer instruction (IFTI) reporting from the existing AML/CTF regime are preserved until a graduated transition to international value transfer service reporting in 2029. Reporting value transfers involving unverified self-hosted virtual asset wallets is also not required until 31 March 2029.

There will be an extended period for notifying us of an AML/CTF compliance officer and notification to rely on the s 236A defence.

There will also be staggered initial independent evaluations to avoid particular sectors or types of businesses all being due for an independent evaluation around the same time.

Financial advisers who also provide tranche 2 designated services will only need to apply AML/CTF program obligations to their tranche 2 designated services from 1 July 2026.

What’s coming next 

We are working to update the guidance on our website to reflect the transitional rules and the amendments to the Rules. You can stay up to date on the latest guidance updates page, which documents any changes we make to our guidance.

ASIC is consulting industry and interested stakeholders on proposed updates to the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2024 (the 2024 Rules).

The proposed changes aim to simplify reporting and reduce regulatory complexity, in response to industry feedback.

The updates would also help align Australia’s framework with international standards, while improving the quality of the data reported to ASIC.

The 2024 Rules set out the requirements for reporting derivative transaction information to derivative trade repositories.

A copy of the proposed updates to the 2024 Rules, along with a detailed summary of the changes, is available on the consultation webpage.

Providing feedback

ASIC welcomes feedback on the proposed changes from industry and interested stakeholders.

Submissions should be sent to otcd@asic.gov.au by 5pm (AEST) on 8 May 2026.

Further information, including how to make a submission, is available on the consultation webpage.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has decommissioned its legacy Direct to APRA (D2A) data submission system for entity access. The system was taken offline on Friday 20 March following the identification of security vulnerabilities through a routine penetration test on Thursday 19 March.

APRA is accelerating its program to transition all APRA’s data collections onto the singular interface of APRA Connect.

This action is precautionary and in line with APRA’s low risk tolerance for system vulnerabilities that may expose APRA or regulated entities to attack. APRA is not aware of any security breaches or exploitation on APRA’s systems.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have today issued a letter to RSE licensees regarding the commencement of Payday Super on 1 July 2026.

The letter sets out the ATO’s and APRA’s roles in the implementation of Payday Super, the relevant regulations and standards to support Payday Super, and next steps to support RSE licensee implementation readiness by 1 July 2026.

The letter is available at: Payday Super Readiness

ASIC has remade three legislative instruments that provide financial reporting relief following consultation with industry.

The new instruments, which replace instruments due to sunset on 1 April 2026, are:

• ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 2026/183
• ASIC Corporations (Electronic Lodgment of Financial and Sustainability Reports) Instrument 2026/59, and
• ASIC Corporations (Disregarding Technical Relief) Instrument 2026/180.

These instruments will expire on 1 April 2031.

ASIC consulted on our proposal to:

• remake the three instruments
• withdraw Regulatory Guide 28 Relief from dual lodgment of financial reports (RG 28) because it provides redundant guidance, and
• repeal ASIC Corporations (Offer Information Statements) Instrument 2016/76 in CS 45 Proposed remake and sunset of financial reporting-related legislative instruments.

As a result, in addition to remaking the three instruments, ASIC will:

• withdraw RG 28
• repeal ASIC Instrument 2016/76 consistent with the proposal to allow the instrument to expire
• amend ASIC Corporations (Share and Interest Purchase Plans) Instrument 2019/547 to reflect the remade ASIC Instrument 2026/180, and
• make minor amendments to RG 125, RG 173, RG 189, RG 254 and INFO 31 in April 2026.

The Federal Court has ordered Oztures Trading Pty Ltd (trading as Binance Australia Derivatives) (Binance) to pay a $10 million pecuniary penalty after misclassifying more than 85% of its Australian client base over a nine-month period, resulting in more than $12 million in losses and fees.

Binance is part of the Binance Group, the operator of the world’s largest digital crypto exchange by trading volume.

In a Statement of Agreed Facts, Binance admitted it exposed 524 retail investors to high-risk crypto derivative products without the required consumer protections between July 2022 to April 2023, due to their misclassification as wholesale clients.

Binance admitted to serious failures in client onboarding and poor staff training that allowed clients seeking to be verified as sophisticated investors to make unlimited attempts at a multiple-choice quiz until they achieved a passing score for Binance to assess them as qualifying for sophisticated investor status.

Additionally, Binance’s senior compliance staff provided inadequate oversight or review of client applications and supporting documentation, further weakening the onboarding and classification processes.

For example, Binance incorrectly assessed an individual as qualifying as a professional investor on the basis that the client certified that they were an ’exempt public authority’, without adequate verification.

This misclassified client group went on to incur $8.66 million in client trading losses and paid $3.89 million in fees.

In addition to the pecuniary penalty, Justice Moshinsky ordered Binance to contribute to ASIC’s costs.

The penalty comes in addition to approximately $13.1 million in compensation paid to the affected clients, which ASIC oversaw in 2023 (23-298MR).

Commissioner Alan Kirkland delivered a speech to the Superannuation Lawyers Conference on 26 March 2026.

Here are the highlights of Alan’s speech:

• The scale of the Shield and First Guardian failures threaten to undermine trust in our superannuation system more broadly.
• ASIC’s actions in relation to these matters should signal that we view superannuation trustees as a significant link in the chain of conduct that led to these outcomes.
• Trustees are in a unique position to identify harmful switching practices in real time, as they control the systems through which rollovers, advice fee deductions, and investment choices occur.

Find out more here: Protecting our superannuation system is everyone’s responsibility

ASIC has remade a legislative instrument, which gives relief to providers of generic financial calculators from certain licensing requirements under the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act).

ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2026/41 (ASIC Instrument 2026/41) continues relief provided under ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2016/207 (ASIC Instrument 2016/207) until 1 April 2031.

We have determined that the instrument is operating effectively and efficiently and continues to form a useful part of the legislative framework.

ASIC will also make minor amendments to RG 167 AFS licensing: Discretionary powers, RG 276: Superannuation forecasts: Calculators and retirement estimates and INFO 248: Enhanced regulatory sandbox in April 2026.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its Insurance Climate Vulnerability Assessment (Insurance CVA), a prudential stress test exploring how a changing climate could affect home insurance affordability and the insurance protection gap1 over coming decades.

Affordable and widely held home insurance supports a resilient and productive economy by protecting households against large and unexpected financial losses, enabling them to recover quickly after shocks.

The Insurance CVA is not a forecast or prediction of future outcomes. Instead, APRA examined how home insurance coverage may fall under two severe but plausible global climate-related scenarios projected out to 2050: one with higher physical risks from weather-related events and one with greater economic impacts from transitioning to a lower emissions economy.

It found that, under both scenarios, climate-driven pressures on insurance premiums could significantly widen the nation’s insurance protection gap, thereby increasing financial risks to the system.

APRA estimates that around one in seven Australian houses are uninsured today. Under both stress scenarios this could rise to around one in four by 2050 – equivalent to an additional one million homes without adequate home insurance.

Brad Jones^*
Assistant Governor (Financial System)

Remarks at the Australian Payments Plus ‘Beyond Tomorrow’ Forum
Sydney – 25 March 2026

RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones has hailed the opportunities to uplift the functioning of Australia’s wholesale markets through the tokenisation of assets and money, as identified through Project Acacia. Speaking at the Australian Payments Plus ‘Beyond Tomorrow’ Forum, Jones said financial innovation had allowed Australia to punch above its weight on the international stage in some key areas,  tokenisation was likely to be an element of designing a financial system that was more dynamic and resilient to technological disruption, in Australia’s national interest.

ASIC’s Moneysmart website has published guidance to help Australians using publicly available AI tools for information on financial issues.

The consumer guidance – published for the first time on Moneysmart – responds to the growing use of publicly available AI tools to answer money questions, alongside social media and other digital sources.

New research commissioned by Moneysmart shows that:

• nearly one in five Gen Z Australians (18%) are using AI platforms for financial information and guidance
• almost two thirds (64%) say they trust AI platforms for money advice, including one in six (16%) who say they completely trust them
• nearly two thirds (63%) of GenZ are confident in the accuracy of financial guidance from AI platforms.

In response to these findings, the new Moneysmart guidance explains that while publicly available, general-purpose AI tools can help with learning and research on general topics, they have important limitations that could lead to inaccurate or inappropriate suggestions.

It sets out examples of when AI may be helpful – such as summarising complex information or answering general money questions – and when it’s a good idea to seek further information from trusted sources or seek advice from a licensed adviser.

While AI can be used as a learning tool, it should always be checked against trusted, independent sources to verify claims before acting on any information it gives you. We always encourage consumers to research broadly and not to rely on one source (whether AI or otherwise) when making decisions about their finances.

The Federal Court has today made declarations that Macquarie Investment Management Limited (MIML) contravened the Corporations Act by failing to place the Shield Master Fund (Shield) on a watch list for heightened monitoring.

Based on a Statement of Agreed Facts and Admissions filed by the parties, His Honour Justice Wheelahan made declarations that MIML should have placed the Shield investment options on a watch list so that they could be subject to further monitoring, such as additional reporting, due diligence, performance monitoring or other follow-up action.

ASIC commenced proceedings against MIML after accepting a court enforceable undertaking that Macquarie pay over 3,000 affected members 100% of the amounts they invested in Shield, less any amounts withdrawn (25-215MR).

Approximately $321 million was paid to affected members in September last year.