ASIC Changes to Licence Processing Timelines and Fee Regime
By Jim Bulling, Michelle Chasser and Edwin Tan
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced changes to its service charter standard for processing licence applications effective immediately. Under the updated standard, ASIC will decide 70% of licence applications within 150 days, and 90% of applications within 240 days. The previous timeframes were 60 days and 120 days respectively. ASIC has attributed this increase to an increasingly robust and risk-based approach to its assessment of licence applications.
In addition, a new fees-for-service regime will commence on 1 July 2018. It will apply to document compliance reviews, licence applications or variations, applications for registration, requests for changes to market integrity rules or procedures and applications for relief. There will be fee increases across the board for lodging ASIC forms, with the exception of certain registry activities which will now be exempt from payment of fees.