AFCA compliance deadline extended by ASIC

ASIC has granted disclosure relief to financial firms, including superannuation funds, until 1 July 2019 to give them time to update their disclosure documents with the contact details of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

AFCA is the new 'one-stop shop' external dispute resolution body (EDR) that will replace FOS, CIO and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal on 1 November 2018.

The new body received authorisation from the government on 3 May 2018 and will be chaired by former Liberal frontbencher Helen Coonan.

Under the new regime, ASIC will require financial firms to inform their clients about AFCA's new details by 1 November 2018.

The disclosure relief announced on 31 May 2018 will give affected firms an additional seven months (until 1 July 2019) to update their EDR details to refer to AFCA.

Firms will have to update their disclosure documents, periodic statements and exit statements.

In addition, financial companies will not have to issue significant event notifications under s1017B of the Corporations Act associated with the transition to AFCA under the ASIC relief.

ASIC has also amended Regulatory Guide 165 'Licensing: Internal and external dispute resolution' to require information about predecessor schemes and AFCA to be provided to complainants from 21 September 2018.

"ASIC will continue to work with all EDR scheme stakeholders to ensure that the transition to AFCA is as smooth as possible for both financial firms and consumers," the regulator said in a statement.