ASIC Class Order [CO 07/150]

Administered by Department of the Treasury

Legislation au F2007L01524 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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ASIC CLASS ORDER [CO 07/150]

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Prepared by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Corporations Act 2001

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) makes Class Order [CO 07/150] Revocation of Class Orders [02/149], [CO 04/10], [CO 04/1571] and [CO 05/27] under s951B(1)(a) and 1020F(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act).

Section 951B(1)(a) provides that ASIC may exempt a person or class of persons from all or specified provisions of Pt 7.7 of the Act.

Section 1020F(1)(a) provides that ASIC may exempt a person or class of persons from all or specified provisions of Pt 7.9 of the Act

1. Background

The Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5) (Refinements Regulations), made on 15 December 2005, introduced a number of changes to the regulation of financial products and financial services under Ch 7 of the Act and the Corporations Regulations 2001 (the Corporations Regulations).

Some of the changes made by the Refinements Regulations include:

(a) clarifying the circumstances in which a person does not have to provide a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to a person located outside of this jurisdiction (reg 7.9.07FB);

(b) replacing the “further market-related advice” (FMRA) exemption from the requirement to give a Statement of Advice (SoA) in s946B of the Act with a broader “further advice” exemption (reg 7.7.10AE);

(c) clarifying the circumstances in which a secondary service provider does not have to provide a Financial Services Guide (FSG) (reg 7.7.02(7)); and

(d) allowing a financial services provider to “tailor” the information in its FSG to information about those services that will be or are likely to be provided by them ( reg 7.7.10AA and 7.7.10AB).

These changes affect the operation of the following Class Orders:

(a) Class Order [CO 02/149] Relief to facilitate issue of interests in relevant schemes to New Zealand investors;

(b) Class Order [CO 04/10] Statement of Advice relief for certain products able to be traded on an approved foreign market;

(d) Class Order [CO 05/27] Financial services guides – Tailoring relief.

2. Purpose of the class order

[CO 07/150] is intended to facilitate regulatory clarity by eliminating overlaps and inconsistencies between Ch 7 of the Act and the Corporations Regulations, and ASIC class orders.

[CO 02/149]

Section 1012D of the Act outlines the situations in which a PDS does not have to be given to a person. The Refinements Regulations modified s1012D by inserting a new s1012D(8A) (reg 7.9.07FB). New s1012D(8A) provides that a PDS does not have to be given to a client in a recommendation situation, an issue situation, or a sale situation, if the client is not in this jurisdiction.

[CO 02/149] grants conditional relief to Australian issuers of interests in managed investment schemes to New Zealand investors from the requirements to give a PDS in s1012B and 1012C and the application form requirements in s1016A.

ASIC considers that the relief in [CO 02/149] is no longer necessary in light of the changes made to s1012D by reg 7.9.07FB. Class Order [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 02/149] to eliminate the overlap between the class order and reg 7.9.07FB.

[CO 04/10]

Section 946B of the Act outlines situations in which a SOA is not required. Prior to the introduction of the Refinements Regulations, s946B(1) provided that a financial services provider who is a participant in a licensed market was not required to provide a SOA to a retail client when giving FMRA. Section 946B(1)(c) limited the application of this exemption to advice about certain financial products that were able to be traded on a financial market.

[CO 04/10] extended the exemption in s946B to providers of certain products able to be traded on approved foreign markets.

The Refinements Regulation modified the operation of s946B (reg 7.7.10AE). The “further advice” exemption is no longer limited to financial products able to be traded on a financial product.

ASIC considers that the relief in [CO 04/10] is no longer necessary in light of the changes made to s946B by reg 7.7.10AE. Therefore, [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 04/10].

[CO 04/1571]

[CO 04/1571] grants relief to secondary service providers from the consequences of failing to provide an FSG to a retail client to whom the secondary service provider provides (via an intermediary) a financial service. The relief applies where the secondary service provider enters into an arrangement with the intermediary for the intermediary to give the secondary service provider's FSG to the client and where certain other conditions are.

The Refinements Regulations (reg 7.7.02(7)) modified the Act so that a secondary services provider does not have to give an FSG if an intermediary provides its financial services to clients provided certain conditions are met.

ASIC considers that the relief in [CO 04/1571] is no longer necessary in light of the changes made by reg 7.7.02(7). Therefore, [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 04/1571] to eliminate the overlap of class order and reg 7.9.07FB.

[CO 05/27]

[CO 05/27] exempts a providing entity from the requirement to include information in its FSG about remuneration it receives for financial services the providing entity is unlikely to provide to the retail client (i.e. it allows an FSG to be tailored to the services that will be or is likely to be provided to the client).

The Refinements Regulations modified the information required to be in an FSG. Under reg 7.7.10AB, an FSG must include either information about the authorised services that the providing entity will be or is likely to be providing to the client or information about the kinds of financial services that the providing entity is authorised to provide. This means that an FSG does not have to include information about all the financial services a providing entity is authorised to provide. In effect, reg 7.7.10AB allows an FSG to be tailored to the services that will be or is likely to be provided to the client.

ASIC considers that the relief in [CO 05/27] is no longer necessary in light of the changes made by reg 7.7.10AB. Therefore, [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 05/27] to eliminate the overlap of the class order and reg 7.9.07FB.

3. Operation of the class order

Paragraph 4 of [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 02/149], [CO 04/10], [CO 04/1571] and [CO 05/27].

4 Consultation

ASIC did not undertake any specific consultation with other stakeholders before [CO 07/150] was made because it is of a minor and machinery nature.

Overview

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has enacted Class Order [CO 07/150] under sections 951B(1)(a) and 1020F(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001, aiming to address overlaps and inconsistencies between the Act, the Corporations Regulations 2001, and certain ASIC class orders. This Class Order revokes four previous orders: Class Order [CO 02/149], which provided relief to Australian issuers of interests in managed investment schemes to New Zealand investors from certain disclosure requirements; Class Order [CO 04/10], which extended the exemption from Statement of Advice requirements to certain products traded on approved foreign markets; Class Order [CO 04/1571], which relieved secondary service providers from the consequences of failing to provide a Financial Services Guide; and Class Order [CO 05/27], which allowed for the tailoring of Financial Services Guides to reflect services that will be or are likely to be provided. These revocations are considered necessary as the changes introduced by the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5) have rendered these reliefs redundant, thereby ensuring regulatory clarity and consistency.

Scope and Application

The ASIC Class Order [CO 07/150] is made under sections 951B(1)(a) and 1020F(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001, which allows the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to exempt certain persons or classes of persons from specified provisions of the Act. This class order revokes four previous class orders: [CO 02/149], [CO 04/10], [CO 04/1571], and [CO 05/27]. These revocations aim to eliminate overlaps and inconsistencies between the Corporations Act, the Corporations Regulations, and the class orders themselves. Class Order [CO 07/150] applies to financial services providers, including those providing products and services to clients in Australia and New Zealand, and it has a Commonwealth jurisdictional reach. The revocations in [CO 07/150] reflect changes made by the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5) that introduced new provisions regarding Product Disclosure Statements, Statements of Advice, and Financial Services Guides. ASIC determined that the relief provided by the revoked class orders was no longer necessary due to these regulatory changes, leading to the revocations to ensure clarity and avoid redundancy in the regulatory framework.

Key Provisions

The ASIC Class Order [CO 07/150] is established under sections 951B(1)(a) and 1020F(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act), empowering the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to exempt certain individuals or classes from specific provisions of Parts 7.7 and 7.9 of the Act. This particular class order, [CO 07/150], aims to revoke four existing class orders: [CO 02/149], [CO 04/10], [CO 04/1571], and [CO 05/27]. The intent behind this revocation is to remove redundancies and inconsistencies between the Act, the Corporations Regulations 2001, and the existing class orders, thereby streamlining regulatory requirements. [CO 02/149] previously provided relief to Australian issuers of interests in managed investment schemes, allowing them to issue these interests to New Zealand investors without the need to provide a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or adhere to the application form requirements. However, [CO 07/150] revokes [CO 02/149] because the Refinements Regulations have already clarified the circumstances under which a PDS does not need to be provided to clients outside Australia. Similarly, [CO 04/10], which extended the exemption for providing a Statement of Advice (SoA) to certain products traded on approved foreign markets, is revoked by [CO 07/150] due to the broader "further advice" exemption introduced by the Refinements Regulations. The class order [CO 04/1571], which relieved secondary service providers from the requirement to provide a Financial Services Guide (FSG) under certain conditions, is also revoked because the Refinements Regulations have already clarified the circumstances under which an FSG does not need to be provided. Lastly, [CO 05/27], which allowed FSGs to be tailored to the services likely to be provided to clients, is revoked by [CO 07/150] due to the Refinements Regulations' modifications to the information required in an FSG. The obligations imposed by [CO 07/150] are primarily to align regulatory requirements with recent legislative changes. Parties and entities governed by the revoked class orders must now comply with the updated regulations and provisions introduced by the Refinements Regulations, ensuring that they no longer rely on the now-superseded class orders for relief. This means that financial services providers must adhere to the new standards for providing PDSs, SoAs, and FSGs as set out in the Act and the Corporations Regulations. There are no direct offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences specified for breaching [CO 07/150] itself, as the class order's purpose is to revoke existing class orders rather than to impose new requirements. However, failure to comply with the underlying Act, the Corporations Regulations, and the Refinements Regulations could lead to enforcement actions by ASIC. These actions may include administrative penalties, fines, or legal proceedings under the relevant sections of the Corporations Act, depending on the severity and nature of the breach. The penalties for non-compliance with the Corporations Act and the associated regulations can vary widely, with some offences potentially resulting in significant financial penalties and imprisonment for individuals.

Area of Law: Corporate Law & Governance
Instrument: Regulation
Concepts: Regulatory Standards; Reporting & Disclosure Obligations; Repeal & Amendment; Enforcement Powers; Delegated & Subordinate Legislation

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

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