ob体育 is extending for a further 12 months the transitional relief for foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence when providing financial services to Australian wholesale clients.
The current transitional arrangements for ob体育鈥檚 sufficient equivalence relief and limited connection relief were due to expire on 31 March 2025.
To provide certainty for FFSPs that are currently relying on ob体育 relief, we will extend this transitional relief until 31 March 2026. After this date, FFSPs will be required to notify ob体育 of their intention to rely on the new licensing exemption regime, unless they choose to opt in by notifying ob体育 earlier.
The Australian Government has introduced legislation for a new licensing exemption regime for FFSPs under the The new regime is due to commence on 1 April 2025, subject to passage of the Bill through Parliament.
Entities that are not currently subject to ob体育 relief will be able to notify ob体育 of their reliance on the licensing exemption regime after it commences.
FFSPs that have been, or are granted a foreign AFS licence, will be able to continue to operate their financial services business in Australia under the licence issued by ob体育.
The extension of the transitional relief is made by听.
Background
ob体育 Corporations (Amendment) Instrument 2024/497 extends the relief contained in the following instruments:
- ;
- ; and
- .
The date of commencement of will be 1 April 2026. This is subject to passage of the .
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ob体育 is Australia鈥檚 corporate, markets and financial services regulator.