ASIC opens consultation on lease assets under AFSL

The regulator issued 'Consultation Paper 336 Financial Requirements: Treatment of lease assets' (CP 336) on Friday.

It commented that some AFS licensees may face difficulty in complying with the financial requirements following the introduction of accounting standard AASB 16 Leases, because intangible assets, excluding deferred tax assets, are not included in satisfying such requirements.

ASIC’s proposal will allow AFS licensees to include a right-of-use lease asset in their calculation of net tangible assets, adjusted surplus liquid funds and surplus liquid funds.

The proposal provides a solution to an impediment that some AFS licensees face in meeting their financial requirements. ASIC stated it will give licensees the regulatory certainty they need when it comes to meeting their licence conditions.

The proposal involves changes to:
• ASIC Class Orders [CO 13/760] – Financial requirements for responsible entities and operators of investor directed portfolio services;
• [CO 13/761] – Financial requirements for custodial or depository service providers;
• [CO 12/752] – Financial requirements for retail OTC derivative issuers;
• the standard conditions in ASIC Pro Forma 209 – Australian Financial Services Licence conditions; and
• The existing conditions of each AFS licence.

The industry consultation will be open until 26 February.