The Australian anti-money laundering and countering of terrorist financing regulator, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre has this week updated its guidance on reporting cash transactions above the AUD 10,000 threshold.
On 2 June 2022, ASIC published the updated ePayments Code which it states will strengthen and clarify a number of existing protections for consumers relating to various forms of electronic payments. The Code has generally been the benchmark for consumer protections for payments and transactions that were triggered within the world of online and mobile banking. It has been an added level of regulation for its subscribers which include most banks, credit unions and building societies in Australia.
As announced in March in the opening hours of Blockchain Week by Minister Jane Hume, the Government released a consultation paper which proposes a new regulatory and licensing regime for ‘crypto asset secondary service providers’. This followed a call by Senator Andrew Bragg earlier that day for crypto reforms to be consolidated into a comprehensive legislative package (including a ‘Digital Services Act’), The main regulatory framework tabled could fall outside the existing Australian Financial Services licensing regime and focuses on the ecosystem of those who offer custody, storage, brokering, exchange and dealing services or operate a market in crypto assets for retail clients.
There has been further progress towards a new Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs) framework in Australia. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Streamlining and Improving Economic Outcomes for Australians) Bill 2022 (Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 17 February 2022. This bill is very similar to the exposure draft released for consultation in December, discussed here. The Bill continues to propose three key exemptions for FFSPs: the professional investor exemption, the comparable regulator exemption and the fit and proper person test exemption and although largely unchanged there are some important new requirements that we consider are important to highlight.
New regulations to expand the regulatory sandbox for Fintechs have received royal assent and are set to commence 1 September 2020. The Regulations introduce a sandbox with few restrictions than the exemptions currently available which are stated to encourage and support the design and delivery of new financial services in…
On 12 March 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate And Financial Sector Penalties) Act 2019 received assent after passing both houses of Parliament. Commencement of most provisions has occurred. Treasury stated that its intention is to arm our financial services regulators with the powers needed to take strong action…