AFS licensees - Changing your licence details using form FS20
Licensee details, responsible managers, external dispute resolution schemes, compensation arrangements
- What details can you change using form FS20?
- Why must you notify ASIC?
- Requirements for responsible managers
- How do you notify us of changes to your responsible managers?
- Proof documents you must send us
- Changing or removing a key person condition
- Where to lodge your proofs when submitting a Form FS20
- Lodgement fees
- More information
What details can you change using form FS20?
Use form FS20 to:
- change your principal business address
- change your address for service of notices
- add or remove a business name
- change details of your contact person
- add or remove a responsible manager
- amend details of a responsible manager
- change the details of your external dispute resolution scheme
- change details of your security bond
- apply to discharge your security bond
- notify a change in controlling entity
More information about getting your security bond back
Why must you notify ASIC?
As an AFS licensee, you should notify us of any changes to your responsible managers within 10 business days of any change occurring. As well as updating your details in our register of AFS licensees, we will use the information you provide to assess whether the changes affect your organisational competence.
Requirements for responsible managers
Your responsible managers are the people you rely on for your organisational competence. Before you nominate a new responsible manager, you need to ensure that the person concerned:
- is directly responsible for significant day-to-day business decisions about your ongoing provision of financial services;
- is a fit and proper person; ; and
- has the qualifications and experience to meet one of the five options in Section C of Regulatory Guide 105 Licensing: Organisational competence (RG 105).
In assessing the relevance of the responsible manager's experience, you need to consider whether they have practical experience that enables them to understand the responsibilities and requirements of their role in your business. This generally includes experience in deciding how the financial services or products their role relates to are provided, and either actually providing those financial services or products or supervising others who do.
Find out more about responsible managers and the organisational competence obligations in RG 105.
How do you notify us of changes to your responsible managers?
You should complete the relevant sections of form FS20 and lodge it with us within 10 business days of any change occurring. The most efficient way to complete and lodge form FS20 is online via our Licensees portal. Or you can download and print a paper copy of Form FS20 and lodge it by mail or in person.
We will consider the impact on your business of changes to your responsible managers, but we will not be able to do this until we receive all of your supporting proofs.
Proof documents you must send us
When adding a responsible manager you must lodge the following core proofs to support your form FS20:
- Statement of Personal Information, including copies of relevant qualification certificates
- copy of a criminal history check
- copy of a bankruptcy check
- copies of two business references.
Note: Business references are not required if you hold a limited AFS licence and are adding responsible manager(s) who are recognised accountants between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2016. - submission on Responsible Manager’s Competence (for Option 5 only)
- if your nominated responsible manager(s) are recognised accountants, a scanned copy of the relevant Certificate of Public Practice or Public Practice certificate: see INFO 179 for more guidance.
These proofs are explained in detail in Section E of Part 2 of the AFS Licensing Kit (RG 2).
When you’ve finalised and submitted your FS20 online, you need to promptly send us copies of all core proofs, which can be scanned and emailed to ASIC to FS20proofs@asic.gov.au quoting the licensee name and lodgement application reference number in the title of the email. The FS20 should not be submitted until all supporting proofs are available.
Statement of Personal Information
The Statement of Personal Information is an attachment to form FS20 and you will print off a copy when you either download a paper form FS20 or print off a copy of your online form, as requested by the system.
All new responsible managers must answer all of the questions in the Statement of Personal Information and it must be signed and witnessed. Part B of the Statement of Personal Information requires you to provide, for each new responsible manager, the details of the educational qualifications relevant to the types of financial services you are authorised to provide under your AFS licence.
You must also lodge all of the new responsible manager's relevant qualification certificates. If a responsible manager has relevant foreign university qualifications, you can use the services of the Australian Education International-National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR) which provides official information and advice on the comparability of overseas qualifications with Australian qualifications. AEI-NOOSR Country Education Profiles (CEP) Online is an online recognition tool to assist in determining the equivalence of qualifications from over 119 countries with Australian qualifications.
You can purchase or access CEP Online from AEI-NOOSR at www.internationaleducation.gov.au or phone 1300 615 262. To find out more about AEI-NOOSR's assessment of qualifications and CEP Online, go to www.internationaleducation.gov.au.
You can lodge a copy of the relevant AEI-NOOSR Country Education Profile and a submission setting out the responsible manager's relevant overseas qualification(s) and explaining how this is comparable to an Australian qualification that meets one of the five options in Section C of RG 105.
If there is any doubt about the adequacy of your responsible manager's qualification based on the information on CEP Online, you can apply to AEI–NOOSR to make an assessment of the comparability of the individual qualification with Australian qualifications. This process may take up to three months.
Criminal history check, bankruptcy check and business references
As an annexure to the Statement of Personal Information, you must also provide a criminal history check and bankruptcy check for each new responsible manager, which must be no more than twelve months old, as well as two business references in the format set out in Appendix 1 of Part 2 of the AFS Licensing Kit (RG 2). If you experience delays in obtaining the criminal history check, you should lodge form FS20 showing evidence that you have applied for a criminal history check.
Submission on Responsible Manager's Competence
If you are relying on Option 5 in RG 105 (i.e. other demonstration of knowledge and skills) to show how a responsible manager meets the competence standards for their role, you must lodge the proof Submission on Responsible Manager's Competence.
Changing or removing a key person condition
If a responsible manager who is named as a key person on the AFS licence certificate has left the licensee, you must in the first instance notify ASIC, within 5 business days, of the actions you will take to replace that key person. This notification is to be made by letter addressed to:
ASIC
Licensing
GPO Box 9827
Melbourne VIC 3001
You will also need to complete form FS03 to apply to vary your licence to change or remove the key person condition that has been imposed. The application to vary your licence should not be submitted until all supporting proofs are available.
When you have finalised and submitted your application, you must promptly lodge all your core proofs.
You must supply an A5 Business Description proof and a B1 Table of Organisational Competence that covers the experience of all your continuing and new responsible managers with all applications to vary a key person condition. These must be emailed to licensing.afslproofs@asic.gov.au. Please ensure that the subject of the email contains the licensee's name and the application reference number, and that the size of the email does not exceed 10Mb. Multiple emails may be sent to meet size constraints.
Alternatively, if you are not lodging the form FS03 online, attach the proofs to the form FS03 when lodging it.
If you intend to remove a key person condition and are adding a new responsible manager, you will need to complete a form FS20 to advise both the cessation of the key person who has left the licence and the appointment of a new responsible manager. The form FS20 advising the appointment of the new responsible manager is not required to be lodged at the same time as the form FS20 advising cessation of the key person.
Where to lodge your proofs when submitting a Form FS20
Lodging by email
Send your core proofs that support the Form FS20 by email to FS20proofs@asic.gov.au. Please ensure that the subject of the email contains the licensee's name and the lodgement reference number and that the size of the email does not exceed 10Mb. Multiple emails may be sent to meet size constraints.
Lodging by mail
If you do not have access to email, you can post your core proofs (and your Form FS20, if you haven’t submitted the form online) to:
Australian Securities & Investments Commission
PO Box 4000
Gippsland Mail Centre
VIC 3841
Lodgement fees
There is no fee if you lodge your Form FS20 and proof documents within 10 business days.
The following late fees apply after 10 business days:
- Up to 1 month late - $93
- More than 1 month - $387
See how you can pay fees to ASIC.
Licensees lodging online will be able to print an invoice showing any fee payable.