The term FSR originally referred to Financial Services Reform but is now used more generally to refer to the process of Financial Services Regulation.
The Financial Services Reform Act which commenced on 11 March 2002 was the culmination of an extensive reform program examining regulatory requirements applying to the financial services industry and covers a number of the recommendations of the Financial System Inquiry (FSI).
The FSI was a comprehensive stocktake of Australia’s financial system structure and regulation. The broad policy direction for what were known as the CLERP 6 reforms, now contained in the FSR Act, is consistent with the findings of the FSI.
The FSR Act, which amended the Corporations Act, imposes:
a single licensing regime for financial sales, advice and dealings in relation to financial products,
consistent and comparable financial product disclosure,
and a single authorisation procedure for financial exchanges and clearing and settlement facilities.
The regulatory framework covers a wide range of financial products including securities, derivatives, general and life insurance, superannuation, deposit accounts and means of payment facilities.
For more detailed information concerning the FSR reforms see the Explanatory Statement to the Financial Services Reform Bill on the website of the Parliament of Australia.
For information about how ASIC has implemented the FSR Act and our continuing role in the regulation of the financial services industry read the summaries and statistics in our annual reports. Download as PDF files the relevant pages listed below or to download a copy of the full annual report go to our Annual reports page
ASIC has agreed to take the lead on eight projects arising out of the 25 refinement proposals in the Federal Government's Refinements to Financial Services Regulation policy proposal issued on 2 May 2005, see Media release 05-110.
