ASIC has extended for two years seven class orders giving relief to foreign financial service providers (FFSPs) providing financial services to wholesale clients. These class orders were due to expire (‘sunset’) between 1 October 2016 and 1 April 2017.
At the same time, ASIC has released Consultation Paper 268 Licensing relief for foreign financial services providers with limited connection to Australia. CP 268 outlines a proposal to repeal a related class order for foreign entities with a limited connection to Australia providing services to wholesale clients. This class order is due to sunset on 1 April 2017.
Extension of relief for FFSPs
ASIC has extended for two years its relief from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence when providing financial services to Australian wholesale clients: see ASIC Corporations (Repeal and Transitional) Instrument 2016/396.
This extension and review comes as a result of market and regulatory developments since the relief was first granted and a number of ongoing international and domestic reviews.
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