ASIC invites feedback on whether the relief under ASIC Corporations (Business Introduction Services) Instrument 2022/805 (the Instrument), due to expire on 1 April 2025, should:
- be extended for a further period in relation to managed investment schemes, and
- reinstate previous relief from Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) in relation to securities, other than debentures. If you consider that this relief should be reinstated, your submission should explain the reasons for, and benefits of, reinstating the relief and why the crowd-sourced funding (CSF) regime in Part 6D.3A of the Act does not adequately accommodate small- to medium-scale capital raisings.
The Instrument provides conditional relief from the fundraising, financial product disclosure, hawking, and advertising requirements in the Act that would apply to a person making, or calling attention to, offers through a business introduction service, of interests in managed investment schemes: see Regulatory Guide 129 Business introduction or matching services (RG 129).
The Instrument does not provide relief from the Australian financial services (AFS) licensing requirement. We expect that persons who provide business introduction services will consider whether they will be providing financial services to their clients and, therefore, need to hold an AFS licence: see RG 129.33 to RG129.36.
The Instrument requires persons to lodge a notice of reliance. Since 1 October 2022, there has been minimal reliance on the Instrument to raise funds for registered managed investment schemes.
