ASIC has remade a legislative instrument providing relief for foreign companies that are Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) and extended other relief following consultation with industry.
ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121 exempts:
- foreign licensees from record keeping obligations, and the requirement to lodge financial statements and have them audited under Div 6 of Pt 7.8 of the Corporations Act 2001, and
- foreign ADIs from the requirement to hold an AFS licence when dealing in derivatives and foreign exchange contracts on their own behalf.
The new instrument will replace ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2016/186. It will expire on 1 April 2031.
We have also extended the operation of ASIC Corporations (Licence Conditions—Treatment of Lease Assets) Instrument 2021/229 for five years to 1 May 2031. This instrument allows certain AFS licensees to include lease assets (right-of-use assets) when calculating their net tangible assets, adjusted surplus liquid funds and surplus liquid funds.
ASIC consulted on our proposal to remake the relief for foreign licensees and foreign ADIs, and to extend the relief for AFS licensees, in December 2025, and received no submissions.
In addition to remaking the relief, we will also make minor updates to Form 405 Statement to verify financial statements of a foreign company.