ASIC's Corporate Plan sets out its strategic priorities and actions for the next four years, especially its approach to its supervisory, surveillance and enforcement functions, and how each of those may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASIC has provided relief reminiscent of the GFC to allow hardship withdrawals from frozen funds.  The COVID-19 version of hardship-relief goes further than its GFC predecessor in many respects. We provide an overview of the issue. ...

In response to Royal Commission recommendations, amendments to remove exceptions to the existing hawking prohibition have been released for consultation. We analyse the changes, their effects and challenges. ...

All signs point to the final tranche of the Hayne Royal Commission exposure draft Bills being introduced before the end of the year, and their focuses will include something that is a favourite topic here at Unravelled, and is of considerable interest to our clients – breach reporting. We explain the new regime's timing and effects. ...

We said at the outset of this pandemic that financial advice will play an important role in supporting members who are considering whether to access their super early. Alive to that, ASIC recently released a series of measures to facilitate access to financial advice ...

Commissioner Hayne's comments in his final report, and the surge of community interest in super, have resulted in a renaissance of sorts for the 'best interests' obligation. ...

Following its consultation in June last year, ASIC has now published RG 272, setting out ASIC's approach to using its product intervention powers. In this update, we examine the scope of this power and the accompanying regulatory guidance. ...

As the dust settles on a raft of COVID-19 related disruptions to various proposed legislative and regulatory reforms, the Allens team takes stock of the current regulatory reform proposals in the superannuation, funds and insurance sectors which have been mooted for the tail end of 2020 and early 2021. ...

COVID-19 will have a range of impacts on over-the-counter derivative transactions. We set out below some key documentation issues arising as a consequence of COVID-19 and our practical tips. ...

The Treasurer has used his emergency powers under the Corporations Act (the Act) to temporarily modify the operation of Australia's continuous disclosure laws. The Treasurer's release states that the changes are designed to enable listed companies to more confidently provide earnings guidance ...