The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it will launch a new Financial Services Licensing (AFS) digital management platform on May 5, 2025, to simplify the process of license application, change, and cancellation. This is an important step in ASIC's digital transformation, aimed at improving user experience and accelerating approval efficiency.

New platform highlights

More convenient operation: adopting a more intuitive interface, supporting pre filled data and personalized application paths

Shorten processing time: Optimize internal processes and accelerate approval speed

Existing policies remain unchanged: the core requirements for license application still apply, only the operational guidelines will be updated

ASIC relaxes some violation reporting requirements

To alleviate the compliance burden on enterprises, ASIC plans to exempt some violations from reporting obligations, but the following conditions must be met:

Complete rectification within 30 days (including compensation)

Affects no more than 5 consumers

Total loss below AUD 500 (even if compensated)

No involvement of customer funds or violation of liquidation rules

ASIC emphasizes that enterprises still need to establish a sound violation management mechanism to ensure timely identification and handling of issues.

Before the launch of the new platform, enterprises can still manage licenses through the existing system. ASIC will provide detailed operation guidelines to help users smoothly transition. This upgrade is part of ASIC's "RegistryConnect" program, aimed at creating a more efficient regulatory service system through digital transformation.