Australian Authority Consults on Relief to Foreign Financial Service Providers

The Australian government today published a consultation on proposals for relief for foreign financial service providers (FFSPs). The proposals are open for comment until 30 July 2021.

Specifically, in the 2021-22 Budget, the Government announced that it would consult on options to restore previously well-established regulatory relief for FFSPs and options to create a fast-track licensing process for those that wish to establish more permanent operations in Australia.

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The proposed measures are intended to reduce duplicate regulation and barriers for FFSPs entering the Australian market.

The government is seeking stakeholder feedback on options that aim to:

• provide Australian licensing relief to FFSPs that are already similarly licensed and regulated in other jurisdictions that want to enter the Australian market,

• provide Australian licensing relief to FFSPs not based in Australia that provide financial services to their Australian clients, and

• ​fast-track the licensing process for FFSPs that will require a licence to operate in Australia.

The consultation paper poses questions to draw out which options are preferred and understand the implications of applying these options.