础厂滨颁鈥檚 Licensing and professional registration activities: 2020 update (Report 671)聽highlights new requirements for licensees, prospective applicants and service providers, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between July 2019 and June 2020, ob体育 received 1,500 licensing and professional registration applications (a slight decrease from 1,504 the previous year). This includes 1,346 Australian financial services (AFS) and credit licence applications. ob体育 approved 394 new AFS and credit licences and 580 variation applications by AFS and credit licensees.
In assessing the majority of the applications, ob体育 achieved other regulatory outcomes including by imposing additional conditions on the licence to ensure applicants were only granted authorisations appropriate to their business activities and competence.
In addition, 361 AFS and credit licence applications were withdrawn or rejected for lodgement, four were refused, and 683 AFS and credit licences were cancelled and 40 suspended.
ob体育 also approved the registration of 58 company auditors, 40 SMSF auditors and registered 12 liquidators approved by the liquidator registration committee. In the same period, 41 professional registration applications were withdrawn and two were refused.
Our performance against our service charter timeframes remains strong, finalising a total of 2,062 applications during the relevant period.
ob体育 Commissioner Danielle Press said the update outlines our work in maintaining the standards of financial services and credit activities, and recent reforms to 础厂滨颁鈥檚 licensing processes. 鈥楾hese reforms broaden the scope of who ob体育 will consider as 鈥渇it and proper people鈥� for licence applications.鈥�
鈥榃e have new powers to refuse a licence application where we have been provided false or misleading information or there is an omission of a material matter in an application, report or statement from an applicant鈥�, Ms Press said.
Licensing Liaison Webinar
Register for 础厂滨颁鈥檚 Licensing Liaison Webinar聽to be held on Thursday 3聽December 2020.
Background
础厂滨颁鈥檚 licensing report is released annually to increase transparency and to provide guidance to licensees, registrants and prospective applicants about 础厂滨颁鈥檚 licensing and professional registration decision making, what ob体育 considers when receiving an application, why certain information is required, and what may increase the time taken to assess the application.
础厂滨颁鈥檚 service charter sets out the standards you can expect when you deal with ob体育 in the course of performing our regulatory functions.