{"id":"F2026L00367","name":"ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121","slug":"asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":107975,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2026L00367-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121","content":"![Commonwealth Coat of Arms and ASIC logo](image.001.png)\n\nASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121\n\nI, Kate Metz, delegate of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, make the following legislative instrument.\n\nDate 24 March 2026\n\nKate Metz\n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary 3\n\n1 Name of legislative instrument……………………………………………. 3\n\n2 Commencement……………………………………………………………. 3\n\n3 Authority …………………………………………………………………… 3\n\n4 Schedules …………………………………………………………………… 3\n\n5 Simplified outline of this instrument …………………………....………….. 3\n\n6 Definitions ………………………………………………………………….. 3\n\nPart 2—Exemption 4\n\n7 Relief from financial reports and record keeping for foreign licensees…… 4\n\n8 Relief from licensing for foreign ADIs …………………………………… 5\n\nPart 3—Repeal 5\n\n9 Repeal ………………………………………………………………………. 5\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name of legislative instrument\n\nThis is the ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2026/121.\n\n2 Commencement\n\nThis instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.\n\n> Note: The register may be accessed at www.legislation.gov.au.\n\n3 Authority\n\nThis instrument is made under paragraphs 926A(2)(a) and 992B(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001.\n\n4 Schedules\n\nEach instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its term.\n\n5 Simplified outline of this instrument\n\nDivision 6 of Part 7.8 of the Act sets out requirements for Australian financial services licensees to comply in relation to their financial services businesses.\n\nThis instrument provides exemptions for:\n\n(a) foreign licensees, including foreign ADIs, from certain financial reporting and record-keeping obligations in particular circumstances and subject to various conditions; and\n\n(b) foreign ADIs from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence in particular circumstances.\n\n6 Definitions\n\nIn this instrument:\n\nAct means the Corporations Act 2001.\n\nforeign ADI has the meaning given by section 5 of the Banking Act 1959.\n\nPart 2—Exemption\n\n7 Relief from financial reports and record keeping for foreign licensees\n\n(1) A foreign company (the foreign licensee) which holds an Australian financial services licence does not have to comply with any of the obligations specified in the provisions listed below:\n\n(a) paragraph 988A(1)(b) of the Act to the extent that it requires the foreign licensee to keep financial records in accordance with any of the following:\n\n    section 988B of the Act;\n    paragraph 988D(a) of the Act;\n    any regulations made for the purposes of section 988F of the Act;\n\n(b) Subdivisions C and D of Division 6 of Part 7.8 of the Act;\n\n(c) if the foreign licensee is a foreign ADI—section 988E of the Act.\n\n> Note: The foreign licensee does not have to comply with regulations made for the purposes of sections 989B and 989C because of the exemptions from those provisions.\n\nConditions of exemption\n\n(2) A foreign licensee that relies on this exemption must lodge with ASIC:\n\n(a) at least once in every calendar year and at intervals of not more than 15 months, a certified copy of:\n\n    (i) its balance sheet made up to the end of its last financial year; and\n    (ii) its cash flow statement for its last financial year; and\n    (iii) its profit and loss statement for its last financial year;\n\nin such form and containing such particulars which it reasonably believes is required to be prepared by the law for the time being applicable to that foreign licensee in its place of origin; and\n\n(b) together with the documents referred to in paragraph (a), a certified copy of a document setting out the views of the licensee’s auditor about those documents, including a statement that the auditor reasonably believes those documents were audited in accordance with the requirements for the time being applicable to the licensee in its place of origin.\n\n> Note: Where the licensee is subject to subsection 601CK(1) of the Act, compliance with that subsection will also result in paragraph 7(2)(a) being satisfied.\n\n8 Relief from licensing for foreign ADIs\n\nA foreign ADI does not have to comply with subsection 911A(1) of the Act to the extent it requires the foreign ADI to hold an Australian financial services licence for the provision of a financial service where all of the following apply:\n\n(a) the service consists only of either or both of the following:\n\n    (i) dealing in derivatives;\n    (ii) dealing in foreign exchange contracts;\n\n(b) the service does not involve the making of a market for derivatives or foreign exchange contracts;\n\n(c) the dealing is entered into for the purpose of managing a financial risk that arises in the ordinary course of the foreign ADI’s banking business;\n\n(d) the dealing is entered into on the foreign ADI’s own behalf;\n\n(e) the counterparty for the dealing is a person as a wholesale client;\n\n(f) the foreign ADI does not hold an Australian financial services licence covering the provision of the service.\n\n> Note: ASIC Corporations (Miscellaneous Technical Relief) Instrument 2026/115 modifies paragraph 911A(2)(a) and subsection 911B(1) of the Act to extend their application to situations where a person provides financial services on behalf of another person who is exempt from holding an Australian financial services licence under section 926A of the Act.\n\nPart 3—Repeal\n\n9 Repeal\n\nThis instrument is repealed at the start of 1 April 2031.\n\n  \n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2016/186\n\n1 The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument maintains its original narrow purpose of providing targeted relief to foreign financial services licensees and foreign ADIs. It replaces the 2016 instrument with substantially similar provisions, updating the framework without expanding beyond the original scope of financial reporting relief and licensing exemptions for specific wholesale banking activities."},"complexity_factors":["Short length (9 sections plus Schedule)","Minimal defined terms (only 2: 'Act' and 'foreign ADI')","Clear conditional structure in section 8 with 6 specific criteria (a)-(f)","Single cross-reference to Banking Act 1959 for 'foreign ADI' definition","Straightforward exemption mechanism without nested exceptions","Sunset clause (automatic repeal) provides certainty"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument eases regulatory burden on foreign financial firms in Australia by allowing licensed foreign companies to use home-country accounting standards and file their annual home-country financial statements and auditor opinion with ASIC instead of following Australian reporting rules. \n\nIt also exempts foreign ADIs from needing an Australian financial services licence for derivatives and FX trades used only to manage their own banking risks with wholesale counterparties. The measure reduces duplicated reporting and expires 1 April 2031."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument expressly repeals ASIC Corporations (Foreign Licensees and ADIs) Instrument 2016/186 in full (Schedule 1) and sets out updated, narrower exemptions for foreign licensees and foreign ADIs (ss7–8) together with an expiry date (s9). The practical scope therefore changes from the prior instrument by replacing its relief framework with the specific conditions and reporting requirements contained in this instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to Corporations Act provisions (eg. 988A–988F, Subdivisions C & D of Div 6, 911A) increasing interpretive work (see ss7–8, authority s3).","Conditional exemptions with document and audit-related requirements tied to foreign law and auditor views (s7(2)), creating variable compliance standards across jurisdictions.","Narrow functional scope (hedging by foreign ADIs with wholesale clients) but detailed eligibility tests (s8(a)–(f)), requiring fact-sensitive legal and factual assessments.","Interaction with other ASIC instruments (eg. Instrument 2026/115 noted) and delegated changes to related Act provisions, raising coordination needs.","Sunset/repeal date (s9) and express repeal of the 2016 instrument (Schedule 1) impose transition and regulatory-planning considerations.","Notes and savings (eg. interaction with regs under ss989B/989C and subsection 601CK(1)) create layered compliance checks across statutes and regulations."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument exempts certain foreign financial firms (foreign licensees and foreign ADIs) from particular Australian financial-reporting, record-keeping and licensing requirements. It allows foreign ADIs to deal in derivatives and foreign-exchange contracts to hedge banking risks with wholesale clients without an Australian financial services licence, and exempts foreign licensees from parts of Division 6 reporting, subject to annual certified foreign financial statements lodged with ASIC (s7(2), s8).\n\nAffected foreign firms bear the compliance cost of lodging certified foreign financials (s7(2)); ASIC controls exemption use and the instrument expires 1 Apr 2031 (s9)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121","history":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121/history","analysis":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/asic-corporations-foreign-licensees-and-adis-instrument-2026-121/documents"}}