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AFS licensees

Suspend your AFS licence

When to suspend your licence

Note: Due to the low number of suspension applications received, there is not currently a transaction for suspending an AFS licence through the Regulatory Portal. The process for requesting a suspension is outlined on this page.

There may be circumstances in which you need to request that ASIC suspend your Australian financial services (AFS) licence. For example:

  • if a key person responsible manager plays an integral role in your financial services business and is temporarily unavailable, which means the licensee is unable to meet its organisational competence requirements in the responsible manager's absence
  • if you are unable to comply with a legal requirement or condition of your licence.

Steps to suspend your licence

Request suspension

Download and complete the request for suspension form (Docx).

Write a covering letter

Write a covering letter that explains in detail the reasons that you require suspension of your licence and includes all your contact details (postal address, email address and telephone number). The covering letter should clearly set out the following:

Details to include

  • your licence number
  • that you want ASIC to suspend your AFS licence
  • the period that you wish your licence to be suspended
  • the reason(s) for suspension
  • any related bodies corporate that are regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) (including their Australian Company Number (ACN) and/or Australian Business Number (ABN)), details of their APRA status (i.e. whether or not they are an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI)) and whether any activities they undertake will be prevented by the licence suspension
  • details of any managed investment schemes for which you act as responsible entity
  • details of any internal or external dispute(s) that have not been fully resolved
  • whether you will accept notice of the suspension by email and, if so, a valid email address
  • a valid postal address for receipt of documents from ASIC.

Adhere to conditions

It is likely that, as a condition of your licence suspension, we will require you to maintain professional indemnity (PI) insurance and membership of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) during the period of suspension, if you have provided services to retail clients.

Provide a letter of authority (if required)

If you have engaged a third party to assist with the suspension, please provide a letter authorising that party to act on your behalf regarding the suspension. Please note that only authorised persons can sign the request for suspension.

Send your request and supporting documents to ASIC

Email the request for suspension, the covering letter and (if applicable) the third-party authorisation letter to AFSLicensing@asic.gov.au.

Send by post

Alternatively, you can send the request for suspension, along with the covering letter, a cheque for the relevant fee and (if applicable) the third party authorisation letter, by mail to:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Licensing
GPO Box 9827
Melbourne VIC 3001

ASIC will issue a fee invoice

Once receive, ASIC we will issue a fee invoice. We will not process the suspension until the fee has been paid.

Pay fees

Refer to Information Sheet 30 for details of fees (see tables under ‘Financial services'):

Information Sheet 30 Fees for commonly lodged documents (INFO 30).

After you submit your request

Cancellation requests

If we approve the cancellation, we will email you:

  • a letter confirming the cancellation
  • a notice providing written confirmation the licence has been cancelled.

You will need to confirm that you have received the notice by replying to our email.

Suspension requests

If we approve the suspension:

  • we will send you a notice saying that we will suspend the credit licence during the approved period
  • you need to confirm that you have received the notice by replying to our email.

Outstanding financial statements and auditor’s reports

Even though you have asked ASIC to suspend your licence, you must still lodge Australian financial services licensee profit and loss statement and balance sheet and Auditor’s report for AFS licensee for any financial year that ends before the date the licence is suspended. Therefore, if we receive your suspension request toward the end of a financial year, we may not finalise the request until the next financial year, and you will need to lodge financial statements and an auditor’s report for a further financial year.

We will normally require, as a condition of the suspension, you to lodge financial statements and an auditor’s report for any financial year that falls within the period of suspension.