The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today released a guide to help licensees applying to vary their Australian financial services (AFS) licence.

The guide, How to vary your AFS licence (the variations guide), contains useful tips and step-by-step instructions that explain the process of applying to vary the authorisation conditions and other conditions of an AFS licence using ASIC form FS03.

‘We have released the variations guide to ensure that licensees understand the variation process and provide all of the relevant information required for us to assess their variation application’, ASIC’s Executive Director of Financial Services Regulation, Mr Ian Johnston said.

‘However where licensees do not submit all the information requested, we may consider that the variation application has not been duly completed and refuse to accept it for lodgement under s1274(8) of the Corporations Act’, Mr Johnston said.

The easiest and quickest way for licensees to complete form FS03 is online using the eLicensing system, which individually tailors the variation application so that applicants are only asked questions relevant to the variations they are applying for. Licensees can access form FS03 and the variations guide via the licensees portal on the ASIC website at www.asic.gov.au/licensees.

The release of the variations guide follows changes to the eLicensing system in September 2004 that have improved the efficiency of the variation application process. These changes include:

• the system will generate a list of proof documents tailored to the variation requested. This means that licensees will only have to provide proofs relevant to the variation being sought. Proofs need not be submitted if they have been provided to ASIC in the past 12 months prior to the variation application and their content has not changed or should not have changed;
• the Pro Forma Table of Organisational Expertise is now a stand-alone proof rather than an annexure to a Statement of Personal Information, and should cover all the responsible officers of a licensee; and
• AFS licensees will now receive a message that form FS20 is generally required if the purpose of the variation application is to change a ‘key person’ condition.

End of release

Download a copy of our guide, 'How to vary your AFS licence'