Centurion Custodian Funds Management Ltd and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Centurion Custodian Funds Management Ltd (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to cancel its Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). The dispute arose because the applicant had not provided a financial service covered by its AFSL within the period prescribed by the *Corporations Act 2001* (Cth). The matter was heard by G Lazanas SM in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether ASIC had validly exercised its discretionary power to cancel the applicant's AFSL. This involved determining whether the applicant had failed to satisfy the conditions for holding an AFSL, specifically by not carrying on a financial services business. A further issue concerned whether ASIC had afforded the applicant procedural fairness in reaching its decision.

The Tribunal affirmed ASIC's decision, finding that the applicant had not provided a financial service within the relevant timeframe and had no imminent plans to do so. The Tribunal reasoned that the purpose of an AFSL is to authorise the provision of financial services, and its continued holding without such activity indicated a failure to meet the statutory requirements. The Tribunal also found that ASIC had provided the applicant with adequate notice and opportunity to respond to the proposed cancellation, thus satisfying the requirements of procedural fairness.