ASIC consults on financial resources requirements for market operators
AI Analysis
ASIC is consulting on a substantial clarification of the financial-resources guidance in RG 172 for Australian licensed market operators. The proposed framework would make six months of operating expenses a minimum baseline, require clearer separation of liquidity and capital resources, and impose stronger scenario analysis, stress-testing, reporting and monitoring expectations, particularly for significant market venues.
Key dates
- 2026-12-04 Deadline
- ASIC consultation on CS 69 and the proposed RG 172 update closes at 5pm AEDT.
Suggested considerations
- Market licensees should consider submitting responses to CS 69 by 5pm AEDT on 4 December 2026, addressing whether the proposed methodology is workable for their business model and venue type.
- Compliance teams may wish to map current financial-resources calculations against the proposed six-month minimum and identify whether all venue, group, outsourcing and related-party operating costs are included.
- Licensees should consider separating liquid resources supporting continuity and recovery from capital buffers supporting positive net assets and loss absorption, and documenting the legal availability of each resource.
- Market operators may wish to perform severe-but-plausible recovery and orderly-wind-down scenarios, including critical-service recovery, prolonged disruption, higher professional costs and support for affected users.
- Significant market venues should consider developing or enhancing scenario analysis, stress-testing governance, assumptions, frequency, management information and escalation thresholds.
- Finance and compliance functions may wish to prepare evidence linking financial-resources calculations to specific balance-sheet items and to the methodologies and assumptions reported under section 792F.
- Boards and senior management should consider reviewing dividend, distribution, intra-group funding and other capital-management controls to prevent actions that could cause or reasonably be expected to cause a financial-resources shortfall.
- Licensees should consider establishing documented monitoring, notification and remediation processes for actual or prospective shortfalls, including assessment of notification obligations under section 792B and restoration timeframes agreed with ASIC.
What changed
The consultation proposes revised RG 172 guidance supporting the existing obligation in section 792A(1)(d) of the Corporations Act 2001 to maintain sufficient resources to operate a market properly. A licensee would assess resources for all of its activities, not only a particular venue, and would generally need resources sufficient to cover at least six months of operating expenses; the assessment should include relevant service and outsourcing costs, including related-party arrangements. More than six months would be expected where necessary to recover critical services or achieve an orderly wind-down under severe but plausible scenarios. The draft distinguishes liquid resources from capital: liquid assets should generally be cash or cash equivalents, while licensees should maintain posi
Compliance impact
The proposal does not yet create final additional binding requirements, but it materially sharpens ASIC's stated expectations under the existing section 792A(1)(d) obligation. A shortfall could raise questions about continued compliance, trigger notification under section 792B, require corrective action and resource restoration agreed with ASIC, and increase the risk of supervisory intervention or
Who is affected
Related regulations
References
AI-generated analysis. May contain errors or omissions — verify with the original ASIC source before acting. Full disclaimer.
What the ASIC said
ASIC consults on financial resources requirements for market operators
Published by ASIC . Read the full notice at the source for the authoritative text.