Breach Reporting Regulations

Treasury is seeking submissions on the draft regulation amendments and explanatory materials for changes to regulations that support the breach reporting rules in Schedule 11 of the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Act 2020. Schedule 11 to the Act implements the Government’s response to recommendations 1.6, 2.8 and 7.2 of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry by:

• clarifying and strengthening the breach reporting regime for financial services licensees in the Corporations Act;
• introducing a comparable breach reporting regime for credit licensees in the Credit Act; and
• requiring financial services licensees and credit licensees to report serious compliance concerns about financial advisers and mortgage brokers respectively.

These regulations amend the Corporations Regulations 2001, the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010, the Corporations (Fees) Regulations 2001 and the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Regulations 2010 to:

• prescribe civil penalty provisions that are not taken to be significant (and therefore may not be reportable) under the relevant breach reporting regime if those provisions are contravened;
• ensure certain breach reporting offences and civil penalty provisions are subject to an infringement notice; and
• make minor and technical amendments, including updating references to the Corporations Act.