Who does RG 271 apply to?

AUSTRAC is encouraging inactive digital currency exchange (DCE) businesses to voluntarily withdraw their registrations or risk having it cancelled.

DCEs must be registered with AUSTRAC before they can offer a service to exchange cash for cryptocurrency, or vice versa. This includes cryptocurrency ATM providers.

There are currently 427 registered DCEs but AUSTRAC is concerned that a significant proportion are inactive. AUSTRAC is contacting any DCEs that appear to no longer be trading.

The ACCC is encouraging businesses to review their card payment surcharges to ensure they are in line with their cost of accepting card payments.

Businesses should also ensure they adequately disclose upfront any card payment surcharges that apply, so that their customers can make informed decisions before ordering, booking and paying for a product or service.

Misleading surcharging practices and other add-on costs is a compliance and enforcement priority for the ACCC in the 2025-26 financial year.

As part of its commitment to enhance transparency and accountability, ASIC is consulting on plans to publish two dashboards containing firm-level Reportable Situations (RS) and Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) data in the second half of 2025.

The proposals detailed in CP 383 Reportable situations and internal dispute resolution data publication (CP 383) build on the high-level insight reports ASIC has previously published.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said the publication of the dashboards would boost transparency, drive improved performance, and help deliver better consumer outcomes, the latter being one of ASIC’s key strategic priorities.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has accepted a Court Enforceable Undertaking (CEU) from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) to address ongoing weaknesses in the bank’s non-financial risk management practices and risk culture.

APRA has also increased the capital add-on applied to ANZ from $750 million to $1 billion. This comes after APRA last year increased the $500 million operational risk capital add-on applied in 2019 by $250 million.

APRA has had long-standing concerns over ANZ’s non-financial risk management practices and risk culture. These include weaknesses in ANZ’s operational risk and compliance management and a reactive risk culture. APRA has been taking measures, through reviews and engagements with ANZ, to supervise the bank’s remediation of these weaknesses. However, we have observed that these weaknesses remain present across the bank.

In 2026, new services and entities will begin coming under AUSTRAC regulation following reforms to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws. The reformed laws also impact current reporting entities.

We have developed a webpage to help you stay up to date on the latest information relating to the reforms. You’ll find information to help you understand upcoming changes to your obligations, new industries to be regulated and risks and indicators of suspicious activity.

The times they are a-changin’– but directors’ duties aren’t

Key points

• Don’t get distracted – directors’ obligations have not changed.
• Addressing regulatory complexity, increasing technical expertise on boards, more effective reporting from senior management – are changes that can help address some of the challenges facing directors.
• What hasn’t changed – and won’t change – are the foundational duties and expectations of directors. Directors must still act in good faith, in the best interests of the company, for a proper purpose and with due care and diligence.

ASIC is suing AustralianSuper Pty Ltd, the trustee of Australia’s largest superannuation fund, over delayed processing of nearly 7,000 death benefit claims, according to proceedings filed in the Federal Court.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released eight proposals to strengthen its prudential governance framework for banks, insurers and superannuation trustees.

This represents the first significant update to APRA’s governance standards for more than a decade.

The proposals will ensure that APRA’s governance standards reflect contemporary best practice and establish clear benchmarks for regulated entities. The proposals address current areas of poor practice and will help ensure that all regulated entities are governed by leaders with the skills, experience and character needed for today’s complex risk environment.

Opening statement by ASIC Chair Joe Longo at the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, 2024-2025 Additional Budget Estimates.

ASIC has announced its preliminary views on the opportunities and risks emerging from shifts in public and private capital markets and called for feedback and debate on key questions as part of a discussion paper launch.

Commenting on Australia’s evolving capital markets: A discussion paper on the dynamics between public and private markets, ASIC Chair Joe Longo said ASIC’s present data and information gathering powers were inefficient and incomplete, making it difficult to determine whether the current downturn in Australian IPOs and public companies and uptick in private credit were cyclical or a sign of structural changes in Australia’s financial markets warranting regulator intervention.

Feedback on the discussion paper questions is due by 5pm on 28 April 2025.

AUSTRAC recently took action against 13 remittance and digital currency exchange providers with more than 50 others still in its sights.

The anti-money laundering regulator is wrapping up a year-long blitz to target non-reporting and under reporting, issuing another round of alerts to the industry’s potentially non-compliant operators.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said alerts are a precursor to potential regulatory action and identify AUSTRAC’s concerns that operators may not be reporting suspicious matters and transactions to AUSTRAC.

ASIC has written to superannuation trustees urging them to strengthen anti-scam practices, or risk exposing members to harm.

The open letter, signed by ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant, outlines our guidance for superannuation trustees in preventing, detecting and responding to scams and fraud activity.

Superannuation trustees have a key role to play in minimising the risk of scam and fraud risks to members, given they are the custodians of the second largest asset for many Australians.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has published remarks delivered by Deputy Chair Margaret Cole to the Conexus Chair Forum.

In her remarks, Ms Cole discusses the importance of strong board governance in super in areas including fund expenditure, investment and operational risk management. Ms Cole also flags APRA’s upcoming engagement with all APRA-regulated industries on a review to update core prudential governance standards.

Her comments included:

• “Funds with robust governance put themselves in a much stronger position to develop effective strategies and respond to challenges. Challenges include reputational risk.”
• “Take the politics out of this. This is a system to be proud of. That pride can’t be allowed to foster complacency or a blind eye to practices that have no place in today’s financial services giants. APRA is not attacking any particular board model but we do take issue with some practices. And frankly so should you.”
• “As Chairs you set the tone from the top in your organisations. You oversee the creation of policy and processes around expenditure. You have oversight of how your businesses are run, including how the executive spend and invest members’ money. Decisions made here have direct implications for members. Your role is critical.”

Small businesses employ approximately half of the private sector workforce and contribute more than $500 billion to the Australian economy each year. They are essential for Australia’s prosperity.

ASIC assists small businesses by providing the information they need to operate lawfully, and by taking enforcement action against directors or companies when the law has been contravened.

In the period 1 October to 31 December 2024 enforcement action was taken by ASIC against:

• four company directors through disqualification – two for the maximum five years
• one director charged for making misleading statements to ASIC
• one director sentenced for making false statements to ASIC, and
• 58 individuals for 107 offences in failing to assist registered liquidators following the collapse of their companies.

ASIC has appointed Scott Gregson as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Gregson will join ASIC on 17 March 2025 following a nearly 30 year career with the ACCC and takes over from ASIC’s retiring interim CEO Greg Yanco.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said Mr Gregson had stood out in an executive search of domestic and international candidates.

‘Scott is an impressive leader and will bring extensive experience to this important role at ASIC,’ Mr Longo said.

‘His commitment to achieving regulatory outcomes that benefit all Australians makes him a strong addition to support ASIC’s commission and head the agency’s executive leadership team.’

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has granted Land Bank of Taiwan Co., Ltd a licence to operate as a foreign authorised deposit-taking institution (Foreign-ADI) under the Banking Act 1959.

An updated list of all APRA-authorised ADIs can be found on the APRA website at: Register of authorised deposit-taking institutions.

Insurers are failing to identify one in six customer complaints, effectively denying those Australians critical protections available through the Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) regime, an ASIC review has found.

ASIC’s review of the IDR practices of 11 general insurers highlighted shortcomings in several areas, including the failure to identify complaints and systemic issues, as well as inadequate communications to customers.

ASIC’s analysis of insurance complaints handling comes as the volume of general insurance complaints made to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) swelled by 50% in the 2022-23 financial year, and rose again in 2023-24.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said, ‘Consumers have a right to expect that their complaints will be identified and handled in a fair, timely and effective manner. When things go wrong, the complaints process provides an opportunity to get them back on track.

‘When insurers fail to identify complaints, they risk prolonging the distress of customers, especially those dealing with extreme events like floods. This failure denies customers access to important protections, including the right to escalate a complaint to AFCA for independent review.’

This consultation paper is about ASIC’s guidance on digital assets and related products.

It sets out our proposals to update Information Sheet 225 Crypto-assets (INFO 225) to provide further guidance about our interpretation of how the Corporations Act 2001 applies to crypto- and digital assets. It also sets out our proposals for licensing entities that provide financial services in relation to crypto- and digital assets that are financial products.

Released 4 December 2024. Comments close 28 February 2025.

The government announced updates to the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms after consulting widely. These changes aim to:

• expand advice services
• reduce unnecessary compliance
• help advisers focus on high‑quality advice
• maintain strong consumer protections.

First tranche of reforms
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 simplifies rules that add costs without benefiting consumers. It became law on 9 July 2024.

Amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to: extend the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime to additional services that are recognised by the Financial Action Task Force as posing high money laundering and terrorism financing risks; reframe and clarify the AML/CTF program and customer due diligence obligations; enable the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to require the disclosure of information and conduct examinations; and update the AML/CTF regime to reflect changing business structures, technologies and illicit financing methodologies; and make consequential amendments. Also makes consequential or contingent amendments to 10 other Acts; and repeals the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988.