Licensed and exempt clearing and settlement facilities
A clearing and settlement (CS) facility provides the mechanism for parties to a transaction in financial products to meet their obligations to each other. Anyone who operates a CS facility in Australia must obtain a licence to do so, or otherwise be exempted by ASIC.
ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia are responsible for the supervision of operators of CS facilities and their participants. ASIC’s main functions are to:
- assess CS facility licence applications, licence exemptions, changes to operating rules and other matters relating to CS facilities
- assess and enforce licensees’ compliance with their obligations, and
- enforce the prohibition on a person operating, or holding out that they operate, a CS facility in Australia, if they are not licensed or exempt.
Related information
- Regulatory Guide 211 Clearing and settlement facilities: Australian and overseas operators (RG 211)
- ASIC CS Services Rules 2025
- Central clearing of OTC derivatives
- COFR paper: Application of the regulatory influence framework for cross-border central counterparties, March 2014
- RBA's Payments and Infrastructure page