The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, today announced that the Turnbull Government is providing greater certainty for financial market operators and reducing cost incurring delays.
The Turnbull Government has successfully legislated to give partial licence exemptions and additional powers to partially or fully exempt a particular market or class of financial markets from ASIC supervision and from compensation arrangements.
The new powers will reduce red tape and will create a more tailored regulatory regime to facilitate the operation of specialised and emerging financial markets and clearing and settlement facilities, including in relation to crowdsourced equity funding securities.
“We are reducing red tape, giving businesses more flexibility in how they operate and letting business flourish by being more responsive to their customers,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
These new powers are being delegated to authorised officers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and will streamline market licensing approval, providing greater certainty for market operators and reducing cost incurring delays. This delegation follows the successfully delegation of powers in 2016 by Minister O’Dwyer relating to firm seeking regulatory approval for licensing, operating rules and compensation arrangements for financial markets and clearing and settlement facilities.
“The Turnbull Government is supporting innovation and competition in Australia’s financial system. This delegation will reduce red tape and better facilitate innovation by enabling industry to bring services and products to market quickly. ASIC is well placed to undertake these functions,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
The delegation of these regulatory powers is accompanied by guidelines for ASIC to take into account when exercising these powers. The guidelines can be accessed on the Treasury website.