Bright Law | searchable regulatory information for Australian financial service providers

Draft Children’s Online Privacy Code and financial services

David Jacobson — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:15:02 +0000

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is consulting on the development of a Children’s Online Privacy Code.

If a financial service provider is concerned with the activities of children through banking or credit products or advice, it could be affected by the Code.

The Privacy Act defines “child”as “an individual who has not reached 18 years”.

The Children’s Online Privacy Code requires entities affected by the Australian Privacy Principles to be bound by the Code to adopt best practice approaches to the handling of children’s personal information.

Marketing to children, which includes social media, must be “age appropriate”.

In relation to banks, the Explanatory Statement of the draft notes:

“the Code applies to specific services provided by an entity, rather than all the services of an entity as a whole.

For example, an entity may offer a singular service that is likely to be accessed by children (such as a pocket money app offered by a bank), while its other services are not (for example, that bank’s business banking and home loan apps). In that case, only the relevant service is captured, ensuring that other services which the entity provides that are not likely to be accessed by children or primarily concerned with the activities of children are not unintentionally brought within scope.”

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
Email: djacobson@brightlaw.com.au
About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.

The post Draft Children’s Online Privacy Code and financial services appeared first on Bright Law.

New licensing exemptions for foreign financial services providers

David Jacobson — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:13:55 +0000

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Axt 2025 has been passed to amend the Corporations Act 2001 to provide new licensing exemptions for foreign financial services providers, among other things.

The amendments establish three exemptions from the requirement to hold an AFS licence: the professional investor exemption, the comparable regulator exemption and the market maker exemption.

The Act also fast-tracks the process for foreign financial services providers that apply for an AFS licence by exempting them from the fit and proper person test if they are authorised to provide financial services in a comparable overseas regulatory regime.

The exemptions will commence on 9 April 2027.

Background.

In the meantime ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121 exempts foreign companies that hold an Australian financial services licence from certain financial reporting and record
keeping obligations, as well as the requirement to lodge financial statements and have them audited, under Division 6 of Part 7.8 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Act), subject to meeting certain conditions.

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ASIC treatment of generic financial calculators

David Jacobson — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:13:07 +0000

ASIC has issued ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2026/41 to give relief to providers of generic financial calculators from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence with an advice authorisation.

Alternatively, where they hold a licence, relief is given from the conduct and disclosure requirements in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 of Part 7.7 of the Corporations Act.

Provided they satisfy specific conditions, generic financial calculators can be used to make a general numerical calculation about a financial product (that is not a superannuation product).

A person who relies on the exemption must take reasonable steps to ensure the conditions are met including:

the financial calculator does not advertise or promote a specific financial product;
if the financial calculator is an electronic facility or device, the financial calculator enables the user to change any of the assumptions (the default assumptions) other than a statutory assumption, and the financial calculator does not prevent the user from readily printing or electronically storing the estimate;
the financial calculator displays to the user in the ordinary course of its use or has printed on it a clear and prominent statement about the purpose and limitations of the calculator, a clear and prominent explanation of the impact of any significant limitation of the calculator, and a clear and prominent statement of the assumptions;
where the estimate is of an amount payable at a future time of 2 or more years, a clear and prominent statement setting out the present value of the estimate;
a clear and prominent statement to the effect that the financial calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product and that they should consider obtaining advice from a financial services licensee before making any financial decisions;

The business must keep a copy of the financial calculator for 7 years from when it is first made available.

ASIC has announced that it will be making minor amendments to RG 276: Superannuation forecasts: Calculators and retirement estimates.

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ASIC Financial advice regulation update

David Jacobson — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:12:19 +0000

ASIC has published its Financial advice update outlining recent regulatory developments and issues affecting financial advice.

The update covers:

review of advice licensees using lead generation services;
self-managed super fund establishment advice;
compliance with internal dispute resolution obligations;
reportable situations;
offshore outsourcing arrangements;
enforcement matters;
update from the financial services and credit panel.

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AML/CTF April 2026 final consolidated Act and Rules update

David Jacobson — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:54:37 +0000

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 as amended by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 commenced in relation to current reporting entities on 31 March 2026.

The Act will apply to Tranche 2 entities from 1 July 2026.

A consolidated version is available here.

Background.

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Proliferation Financing) Regulations 2026 also commenced on 31 March 2026.

Separately, the Government has introduced the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2026 into the House of Representatives to empower the AUSTRAC CEO to restrict or prohibit, by legislative instrument, a reporting entity from using a high-risk mechanism
to provide a designated service. For example, exchanging money for virtual assets via a cryptocurrency ATM. The Bill, if passed, will also amend the meaning of financing of terrorism to reference new offences for financing a state sponsor of terrorism. Technical amendments will also be made to the AML/CTF Act.

2025 Rules

The amended Act is implemented by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules 2025 which have been amended by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (2025 Rules) Amendment Rules 2026 which also commenced on 31 March 2026.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Class Exemptions and Other Matters) Amendment Rules 2026 also commenced on 31 March 2026. These Rules:

exempt ATM operators from undertaking initial customer due diligence on people who withdraw less than $10,000 in cash where the person isn’t otherwise the ATM operator’s customer;
exempt Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) from undertaking initial customer due diligence on people who withdraw less than $1,000 in virtual assets to their self-hosted wallet where the person isn’t otherwise the VASP’s customer;
exempt reporting entities that issue open-loop gift cards from undertaking initial customer due diligence about the gift card recipient when paying for goods and services where there are other appropriate risk mitigations;
exempt other people that issue open-loop gift cards from AML/CTF obligations where there are other appropriate risk mitigations;
exempt services provided by barristers to Australian government bodies;
exempt incidental services provided by clearing and settlement facilities;
exempt incidental legal assistance services provided by community legal centres, legal aid, duty lawyers and advocates representing a client under a court referral scheme.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Transitional Rules 2026 include a 3 year initial CDD transition period for existing reporting entities from 31 March 2026 to 30 March 2029.

Austrac has updated the Suspicious Matter Reporting (SMR) reference guide to contain best-practice expectations for drafting grounds for suspicion text.

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Credit and debit card surcharging removal

David Jacobson — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:54:16 +0000

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has published a Conclusions Paper which proposes a package of reforms that includes removing surcharging, reducing interchange fees and increasing transparency in order to promote competition and efficiency in the payments system.

The key decisions of the RBA include:

removing surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the designated eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card networks;
lowering the caps on interchange fees paid by Australian businesses when they accept domestic or overseas card payments;
increasing transparency over the fees charged by card networks and payment service providers.

Most of these changes will come into effect on 1 October 2026, including the removal of surcharging and reductions in the interchange caps for domestic card transactions.

The introduction of an interchange cap on foreign cards and some changes to payment cost transparency will come into effect on 1 April 2027.

The RBA plans to start a public consultation in mid-2026 to assess the public interest case for regulating areas of the retail payments system that were not covered under the Review, including mobile wallets, three-party card networks, ‘buy-now, pay-later’ services and e-commerce platforms.

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AFCA jurisdiction for bank scam complaints expanded

David Jacobson — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:53:53 +0000

AFCA has announced its jurisdiction for scam-related bank complaints has expanded.

The change allows AFCA to look at the investigation of scam-related complaints involving receiving banks and unauthorised opening of accounts and credit facilities in a consumer’s name without their consent or authority, even where the consumer making the complaint is not a customer of that bank.

AFCA’s Receiving Banks and Unauthorised Opening of Accounts factsheet provides guidance on timing, eligibility and processes for complaints under the expanded jurisdiction.

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Payment service providers regulation

David Jacobson — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:53:30 +0000

Treasury is consulting on draft legislation for a new regulatory framework for payment service providers.

The draft Tranche 1 legislation covers:

definitions of regulated payment functions;
licensing obligations, including how certain providers must safeguard payment-related money;
exemptions and exclusions;
rules for unclaimed monies;
a new prudential framework;
a power to make rules for a mandatory and revised ePayments Code; and
transitional arrangements.

Treasury has also released an early, partial draft of exemption and exclusion regulations.

Background.

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IDR dashboard

David Jacobson — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:53:00 +0000

ASIC has released its interactive Internal Dispute Resolution dashboard which publishes a summary of complaints data for each of its licensed entities.

The summary shows types of complaints, products involved, resolution times and resolution outcomes.

It also allows a comparison of financial firms’ complaints.

The post IDR dashboard appeared first on Bright Law.

AML/CTF update March 2026

David Jacobson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:29:10 +0000

This update covers the draft AML transitional rules, AUSTRAC’s guidance on its new compulsory examination powers, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s privacy guidance for current and new reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act.

AML transitional rules draft

The Department of Home Affairs has published draft transitional rules to allow periods of time for reporting entities to adjust their business and processes to certain obligations, while still managing their ML/TF risk. Background.

AUSTRAC guidance on its new compulsory examination powers

AUSTRAC has published guidance on its new compulsory examination powers under section 172A of the AML/CTF Act.

Section 172A provides that AUSTRAC may issue a notice to a person requiring them to attend for an examination and answer questions on oath or affirmation.

It can only use this power if it believes on reasonable grounds that a person has information or documents relevant to compliance with the AML/CTF Act, Rules or regulations, or a a prescribed criminal offence.

If a person receives a section 172A notice, they must attend and answer questions asked of them. Failure to comply is an offence.

The guidance sets out when their answers may not be used against them if they incriminate them or expose them to a penalty.

Examinees are entitled to be represented by an Australian legal practitioner during an examination.

Privacy obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering / Counter-Terrorism Financing Act

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released updated Privacy guidance for reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act having regard to an expanded range of businesses that will be regulated by the Privacy Act as part of the AML/CTF reforms. This includes those which are small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $3 million which would otherwise be exempt.

The guidance discusses what personal information businesses may collect, how they must protect it, and when it must be deleted under the AML/CTF regulatory framework.

From 1 July 2026, real estate professionals, dealers in precious metals and stones, and professional service providers such as lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, and trust and company service providers (also known as ‘Tranche 2’ entities) will be brought into the Privacy Act.

The guidance clarifies that reporting entities from 31 March 2026, and from 1 July 2026 for tranche 2 entities, businesses should not retain copies of full ID documents for AML/CTF record-keeping purposes. The AML/CTF regime does not require copies full ID documents to be kept, and entities’ obligations under the Privacy Act require them to minimise the data they retain.

Reporting entities should consider whether they have obligations to make copies of full ID documents outside of the AML/CTF Act.

Entities must also have clear and accessible privacy policies and collection notices explaining how personal information is handled – unless issuing a notice would breach statutory tipping‑off restrictions.

The guidance also discusses the collection of biometric information and the Digital ID scheme.

The post AML/CTF update March 2026 appeared first on Bright Law.

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