Proposed new powers for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to regulate banks and other financial institutions in the wake of the Royal Commission into the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry have been released for public consultation.
Treasury has released an exposure draft of proposed legislation to strengthen ASIC’s enforcement and supervision powers to protect consumers in line with the recommendations of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce.
In a statement, Treasury said the draft legislation strengthened ASIC’s licensing powers by increasing the standards required of an Australian Financial Services (AFS) Licence holder at both the time of application and on a continuing basis.
“It aligns the penalties for false and misleading statements in AFS Licence and Australian Credit Licence applications,” Treasury said.
“The draft legislation extends ASIC’s powers so that they may ban a person from performing functions in a financial services or credit business. The legislation also expands the grounds on which ASIC can issue banning orders.”
It said the proposed laws would harmonise ASIC’s Search Warrant powers across different Acts and bring them into line with the search warrant powers in the Crimes Act.
“It will also allow interception Agencies to provide lawfully intercepted information to ASIC for serious offences that ASIC can investigate or prosecute,” Treasury said.
Consultation closes on 9 October and the exposure draft and other related documents can be accessed on the Treasury website at this PS News link.
