Financial Markets
ASIC seeks feedback on proposal to remake financial reporting relief for wholly-owned companies
On 3 August 2026, ASIC announced that it is seeking feedback on its proposal to remake a legislative instrument that provides financial reporting relief for wholly-owned companies.
The legislative instrument, which is due to expire on 1 October 2026, is the ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785 (Instrument 2016/785).
ASIC proposes to remake Instrument 2016/785 for a period of 5 years with some minor amendments to account for technical changes to the instrument and related documents.
This maintains the existing relief pending the Australian government's proposed law reform for simplified group entity reporting, which was announced as part of the Whole-of-Government Regulatory Reform Agenda in the 2026/27 Budget.
Feedback on the proposal is due by 28 August 2026.
See: Media release, Instrument 2016/785, Consultation
ASIC seeks feedback on proposal to extend financial services, credit and markets legislative instruments
On 11 August 2026, ASIC announced that it is seeking feedback on its proposal to extend the operation of eight self-repealing legislative instruments that will expire in 2027. ASIC is proposing to extend the self-repeal date for each instrument with no other changes proposed.
The instruments are:
- ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Futures Markets) Class Waiver 2018/313;
- ASIC Corporations (Notification of Authorised Representatives) Instrument 2022/301;
- ASIC Corporations (Cash Settlement Fact Sheet and Confirming Transactions) Instrument 2022/809;
- ASIC Corporations (Financial Requirements for Issuers of Retail OTC Derivatives) Instrument 2022/705;
- ASIC Corporations (In-use Notices for Employer-sponsored Superannuation and Superannuation Dashboards) Instrument 2022/496;
- ASIC Corporations (Shorter PDS and Delivery of Accessible Financial Products Disclosure by Platform Operators and Superannuation Trustees) Instrument 2022/497;
- ASIC Corporations (Financial Services Guides) Instrument 2022/910, and
- ASIC Corporations (Employee Share Schemes) Instrument 2022/1021.
Feedback on the proposal is due by 8 September 2026.
See: Media release, 2018/313, 2022/301, 2022/809, 2022/705, 2022/496, 2022/497, 2022/910, 2022/1021
ASIC warns retail investors about risky products offered by online brokers
On 13 August 2026, ASIC released findings from a targeted surveillance of nine online brokers offering short-dated ETOs, futures and fractional shares to retail investors. The review, conducted between March and June 2026, found deficiencies in product distribution and onboarding practices that may expose retail investors to complex or high-risk products without adequate disclosure of the associated risks.
Key findings from the surveillance included:
- deficiencies in TMDs, including insufficient detail on how products met the likely objectives, situations and needs of clients;
- onboarding shortcomings, including limited tailoring of questions to client circumstances and repeated or unlimited attempts to pass onboarding questionnaires; and
- unclear client disclosure that failed to explain the risks and costs associated with fractional trading.
ASIC has indicated it will continue to address concerns with some entities and is considering further regulatory or enforcement action in relation to matters identified in the review.
ASIC encourages entities offering complex or high-risk products to retail clients to review their compliance with DDO, with particular attention to ensuring TMDs are appropriately and narrowly defined, onboarding processes are robust and appropriately tailored to client circumstances, and disclosures clearly explain the real risks and costs involved.
See: Media release
Capital Markets
ASIC seeks feedback on proposal to improve pre-IPO advertising flexibility and global alignment
On 4 August 2026, ASIC announced that it is seeking feedback on its proposal to expand an existing exception from restrictions on companies advertising and engaging in publicity opportunities before lodging a prospectus.
The proposal in Consultation Paper 390 Proposed reform to the pre-lodgement advertising and publicity regime follows industry feedback received as part of ASIC’s REP 823 Advancing Australia's evolving capital markets: Discussion paper response report, which noted that current IPO advertising and publicity rules may not align with modern information-sharing practices.
ASIC’s proposed changes to the pre-lodgement advertising framework for IPOs are intended to:
- align the rules with comparable international jurisdictions and other domestic fundraising regimes, such as crowd-sourced equity funding and offers made under a product disclosure statement;
- allow offerors to communicate in a controlled and accountable way;
- enable companies to gauge market interest, improve information quality and enable timely clarification or corrections;
- provide earlier regulatory visibility of potential offers and related market activity; and
- retain investor safeguards by reinforcing the prospectus as the primary disclosure document for investment decisions.
Under the proposed rules, companies advertising unquoted securities would be required to:
- identify the issuer and the seller of the security;
- ensure a prospectus is made available by the time a security is listed;
- make it clear where and when a prospectus will be made available; and
- direct investors to the disclosure document as the key source of information before making an investment decision.
Feedback on the proposal is due by 11 September 2026.
See: Media release, Consultation Paper 390, REP 823
Other
AFCA publishes three new and revised Approach papers
On 10 August 2026, AFCA published three Approach papers outlining how it considers non-financial loss, general insurance claims handling and uninsured motorist complaints. The non-financial loss paper is an update to its previous publication, while the general insurance claims handling and uninsured motorist complaints papers are new publications.
AFCA Approach to non-financial loss has been updated to:
- explain how AFCA assesses the kinds of avoidable impacts that may result in an award of compensation for non-financial loss;
- include a table that sets out how the severity and duration of harm is assessed when considering compensation for non-financial loss; and
- expand the case studies and examples considered to cover scams, financial hardship, insurance, privacy and family violence complaints.
AFCA Approach to general insurance claims handling provides insight as to:
- how AFCA assesses claims handling obligations, including insurers obligations, the characteristics of a reasonably handled claim and remedies; and
- reasons for claim delays.
AFCA Approach to uninsured motorist complaints outlines how AFCA considers complaints involving uninsured motorists including when AFCA can and cannot consider an uninsured motorists complaint.
See: Media release, Non-financial loss, General insurance claims, Uninsured motorist complaints
