ASIC has consolidated the two breach reporting instruments in ASIC Corporations and Credit (Breach Reporting – Reportable Situations) Instrument 2021/716 and ASIC Credit (Breach Reporting – Prescribed Commonwealth Legislation) Instrument 2021/801 into a single document: ASIC Corporations and Credit (Breach Reporting–Reportable Situations) Instrument 2024/620.

ASIC Corporations and Credit (Breach Reporting–Reportable Situations) Instrument 2024/620 remakes and consolidates the instruments that were to expire on 5 and 1 October 2024 respectively for five years until the start of 1 October 2029.

The Instrument prevents unintended regulatory and reporting burdens from being imposed upon Australian financial service (AFS) licensees as part of the breach reporting obligation in Subdivision B, Division 3 of Part 7.6 of the Corporations Act 2001 by excluding certain insignificant contraventions of core obligations from being reportable under the reportable situations regime.

In particular:

• Breaches of standards relating to misleading or deceptive conduct are not taken to be a significant breach of a core obligation if the circumstances would otherwise only be likely to give rise to a single reportable situation, only a limited number of clients are likely to be affected and the contravention is unlikely to result in any financial loss.
• If an AFS or credit licensee has previously lodged a report with ASIC, pursuant to Part 7.6 of the Corporations Act or Part 2-6 of the Credit Act, relating to a reportable situation that is substantially similar to a new reportable situation, the time in which the licensee is required to report to ASIC is extended to ninety (rather than thirty) days.
• The scope of the ‘core obligation’ in paragraph 47(1)(d) of the Credit Act is limited to the following Commonwealth legislation:
  • Banking Act 1959;
  • Corporations Act 2001;
  • Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001;
  • Financial Sector (Shareholders) Act 1998; and
  • Financial Sector (Transfer and Restructure) Act 1999.

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