The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has made modifications to the reportable situations regime, which require licensees to submit notifications about breaches as defined in the Corporations Act and National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.   

ASIC says the amendments mean licensees do not have to submit notifications about certain reportable situations from October 20 onwards. 

The regulator made the changes via the ASIC Corporations and Credit (Amendment) Instrument 2023/589. 

To qualify for the exclusions, the relevant breach must: 

• only impact one person or, if it relates to a financial product, credit product, consumer lease, mortgage or guarantee that is, or is proposed to be, held jointly by more than one person, those persons; 
• not result in, and be unlikely to result in, any financial loss or damage to any person (regardless of whether that loss or damage has been, will be or may be, remediated); and 
• not give rise, and be unlikely to give rise, to any other reportable situation. 

ASIC has also provided more time for licensees to notify the regulator a reportable situation. Instead of 30 days, licensees now have up to 90 days to submit notifications of a breach. 

The regulator says the 90-day deadline applies to “from when they first know, or are reckless with respect to whether, there are reasonable grounds to believe that a reportable situation has arisen to lodge a report with ASIC”. 

McCabes Principal Mathew Kaley says the change is intended to address situations where a licensee’s investigation into a breach reveals additional breaches of a similar nature. 

“Rather than having to update ASIC on a continually rolling 30-day basis, as has been the case to date, the Instrument now allows updates to be provided to ASIC each 90 days,” he said.