The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) granted 280 new Australian Financial Services (AFS) licenses between July 2023 and June 2024, the regulator revealed today (Friday). This figure is much lower than the 332 and 578 such license grants in the previous two financial years, respectively.
A Necessary License to Operate in Australia
Apart from the AFS licenses, with which forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) brokers operate in the country, the regulator also granted 143 new credit licenses. Interestingly, the regulator also canceled or suspended 239 AFS licenses and 204 credit licenses in the last fiscal year.
According to regulatory figures, it received 1,531 licensing and registration applications in the financial year between July 2023 and June 2024. Out of that, 1,246 applications for new and varied AFS and credit licenses were finalized.
The Aussie regulator also approved 495 AFS and credit license variation applications from existing licensees in the 12 months. It further highlighted that it had decided on 80 percent of new AFS license applications and 75 percent of AFS license variation applications within 150 days.
“ASIC's licensing and professional registration function plays a key gatekeeping role by ensuring new licensees and registered professionals meet the necessary thresholds,” Alan Kirkland, a Commissioner at ASIC, said.
Strict Actions by Aussie Regulator
Over the past several months, ASIC took action against multiple CFD brokers. It canceled the AFS license of the Australian unit of XTrade last June over a range of lapses, which was followed by the license cancellation of FXOpen, another prominent CFDs broker. Recently, the Aussie regulator canceled the license of Prospero Markets, a CFDs broker that is already in liquidation.
Meanwhile, the Australian regulator also ramped up its fight against investment frauds and scams. It blocked over 7,300 phishing and investment scam websites since July 2023. It uses the services of third parties to block suspicious websites and recently opened a tender seeking a new partner.
