Version 4 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) eLicensing system, together with an updated version of the AFS licensing kit, have been released by the regulator. The release of Version 4 follows recent updates to guides designed to help applicants choose the right authorisations and assessment process. The guides incorporate the version 4 changes and provide further clarification of ASIC’s operational processes.

Pauline Vamos, ASIC’s Director of Financial Services Regulation, says ASIC aims to provide prospective licensees “with as much guidance as possible to assist them in making their applications by December 2003”.

There are also guides on PS166 (financial requirements) and PS175 (organisational competency obligations for responsible officers and small business compliance), giving applicants “all the tools they need to complete their application themselves”.

“Preparing an application is not a complicated process for most applicants, but it does take time,” she said. “As there is less than six months left in the transition period and the peak for licence applications has commenced, applications need to be lodged as soon as possible to get in the queue.”

Applicants who have started preparing their applications in version 3 won’t have to start again, but those who started using version 2 will.