By Philip Hopley The Australian regulatory financial services sector has certainly been giving props to Greek philosophy of late with its channelling of Heraclitus’ statement that “there is nothing permanent except change.” Now that the dedicated insurance hearings at the Royal Commission have finished, here is a snapshot of the current legislative and regulatory plans for … Read more

With terminology such as mixers, cold storage, tumblers and Onions (Onion Routers) (TOR), one may be excused for overlooking the significance of money laundering the digital age. Read more

By Philip Hopley The federal government has just released for public consultation a second exposure draft of the legislation that will introduce financial product design and distribution obligations into the Corporations Act and give ASIC new enforcement powers, which includes the issuing of stop orders. Having considered the submissions provided on the first draft of exposure legislation … Read more

The RBA has recently set out its views that “Most of the regulation set for financial institutions is aimed at the stability of financial institutions….If some of these companies get big enough there will be systemic issues." This is moderately inconsistent with APRA’s latest move, expanding its policy to restricted ADI licences to foster innovation and competition in the banking industry.  Australia needs clear guidance and regulatory support to avoid pushing away financial services innovation. Read more

What this means for you Initial Coin Offering (ICO) issuers have been placed on notice that from 19 April 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has delegated powers to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to enable ASIC to take action under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) relating to crypto-assets. See ASIC’s … Read more