ASIC has released its annual market assessment of Asia Pacific Exchange Limited (APX).
ASIC has concluded that APX had adequate arrangements for the supervision of its market in accordance with the obligations under s792A(c) of the Corporations Act 2001.
APX is licensed to operate a market in securities and managed investment products.
Background
A financial market is defined as a facility through which offers to buy and sell financial products are regularly made. Anyone who operates a financial market in Australia must obtain a licence to do so, or otherwise be exempted by the Minister. Similarly, anyone who operates a clearing and settlement facility in Australia must obtain a licence unless exempted by the Minister.
As part of the conditions of granting a licence to operate either a financial market or a clearing and settlement facility, the licensee must supervise the market in accordance with Part 7.2 of the Corporations Act 2001, and supervise the clearing and settlement facility in accordance with Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001.
Under the Corporations Act 2001, ASIC is required to conduct an assessment of the extent to which licensed financial markets are complying with their obligations to supervise their markets. ASIC must do this at least once per year in relation to each licensee. ASIC can also assess how well a licensee is complying with its other obligations under the Corporations Act 2001.