ASIC releases RG121
As part of its international capital flows project to make it easier for foreigners to establish a financial services business in Australia, the securities watchdog has issued a new regulatory guide.
According to the Australian SecuritiesandInvestments Commission (ASIC), the guide, which is entitled ‘Doing financial services business in Australia’ (RG 121), will assist overseas financial services providers in understanding Australia’s regulatory regime under the Corporations Act.
The guide sets out the statutory regime, describes ASIC’s role, details the requirements to be appropriately licensed, describes disclosure obligations that apply to financial product providers and details the obligations that come with being a licensee.
ASIC has been working to remove barriers to capital flows while ensuring the continued integrity of Australian markets, releasing the report ‘Enhancing Capital Flows into and out of Australia’ late last year.
It identified the importance of the freer flow of capital in providing wider investment opportunities for Australians and minimising the cost of capital for domestic businesses.
The report also detailed how ASIC and the Federal Treasury have been working towards this objective, which has involved discussions with the United States of America on allowing securities exchanges and market participants to conduct secondary trading in listed securities in each other’s market.
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