Exposure draft legislation: Relief for Foreign Financial Service Providers

The Government is seeking stakeholder views on the first tranche of exposure draft legislation to provide regulatory relief for Foreign Financial Service Providers (FFSPs).

In the 2021‑22 Budget, the Government announced as part of the Global Talent Attraction package that it would consult on options to provide regulatory relief for FFSPs and options to create a fast track licensing process for those that wish to establish more permanent operations in Australia. Consultation on the exposure draft of this regulatory relief follows the Government’s earlier public consultation on options for the relief.

The Exposure Draft legislation seeks to introduce:

• the comparable regulator exemption, which exempts FFSPs authorised to provide financial services in a comparable regime from the requirement to be licensed when dealing with wholesale clients;
• the professional investor exemption, which exempts FFSPs that provide financial services from outside Australia to professional investors from the requirement to be licensed in Australia; and
• an exemption from the fit and proper person assessment to fast track the licensing process for FFSPs authorised to provide financial services in a comparable regulatory regime.