Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia

 

Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Regulations 2023

I, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), GovernorGeneral of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.

Dated  6 July 2023

David Hurley

GovernorGeneral

By His Excellency’s Command

Stephen Jones

Assistant Treasurer
Minister for Financial Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

1 Name

2 Commencement

3 Authority

4 Definitions

5 Rules about amounts

Part 2—Matters relating to imposition of levy

6 Subsectors subject to annual levy

7 General conditions for imposition of annual levy

8 General conditions for imposition of special levy

Part 3—Amount of levy payable

Division 1—Amount of annual levy for members of a subsector

9 Amount of annual levy

10 Levy component for persons who are deregistered or who cease to be a member of a subsector

11 Graduated levy component

12 Entity metric

Division 2—Amount of further levy across members of the subsector

13 Amount of further levy—total levy does not exceed the subsector levy cap

14 Amount of special levy—total levy exceeds the subsector levy cap

Division 3—Amount of special levy across several subsectors

15 Amount of special levy—total levy exceeds the subsector levy cap

16 Amount of special levy—basic levy component applies to the leviable subsector

17 Amount of special levy—basic levy component does not apply to the leviable subsector

Division 4—Amount of levy for unpaid claims, and AFCA’s unpaid fees, for complaints given to AFCA before the accumulation recovery day

18 Amount of levy

Part 1Preliminary

 

1  Name

  This instrument is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Regulations 2023.

2  Commencement

 (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

 

Commencement information

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Provisions

Commencement

Date/Details

1.  The whole of this instrument

The later of:

(a) the day after this instrument is registered; and

(b) the day the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Act 2023 commences.

8 July 2023

(paragraph (a) applies)

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

 (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3  Authority

  This instrument is made under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Act 2023.

4  Definitions

Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:

(a) ASIC;

(b) levy period;

(c) qualifying period.

 (1) In this instrument:

Act means the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Act 2023.

admit to quotation has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001.

amount of credit has the same meaning as in subsection 3(2) of the National Credit Code.

basic banking product has the same meaning as in section 910A of the Corporations Act 2001.

credit has the same meaning as in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

credit contract has the same meaning as in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

credit intermediaries subsector means the subsector mentioned in paragraph 6(a).

credit providers subsector means the subsector mentioned in paragraph 6(b).

entity metric has the meaning given by section 12.

financial product has the same meaning as in Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001.

graduated levy component has the meaning given by section 11.

large securities exchange has the same meaning as in the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017.

leviable entity has the same meaning as in the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Act 2017.

licensed personal advice subsector means the subsector mentioned in paragraph 6(c).

medium amount credit contract has the same meaning as in the National Credit Code.

minimum levy component has the meaning given by subsection 9(2).

Ministerial determination has the meaning given by subparagraph 15(b)(ii).

not subject to the AFCA scheme: a person is not subject to the AFCA scheme at a particular time if the person is not required (directly or indirectly) by a law of the Commonwealth to be a member of the AFCA scheme at that time.

personal advice has the same meaning as in Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001.

retail client has the same meaning as in Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001.

securities dealers subsector means the subsector mentioned in paragraph 6(d).

security has the meaning given by section 761A of the Corporations Act 2001 for the purposes of Chapter 7 of that Act (disregarding Part 7.11 of that Chapter).

small amount credit contract has the same meaning as in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

 (2) Other expressions used in this instrument that are defined in section 9 or 761A of the Corporations Act 2001 have the same meaning as they have in those sections.

5  Rules about amounts

 (1) A monetary amount worked out under this instrument must be rounded to the nearest whole dollar (rounding 50 cents upwards).

 (2) If any other amount worked out under this instrument is not a whole number, the amount must be rounded to the nearest whole number (rounding 0.5 upwards).

Part 2Matters relating to imposition of levy

 

6  Subsectors subject to annual levy

  Each of the following is a kind of subsector prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 8(1)(a) of the Act for the qualifying period for a levy period:

 (a) the credit intermediaries subsector (within the meaning of subsection 25(1) of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017);

 (b) the credit providers subsector (within the meaning of subsection 26(1) of those regulations);

 (c) the licensees that provide personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients subsector (within the meaning of subsection 43(1) of those regulations);

 (d) the securities dealers subsector (within the meaning of subsection 67(1) of those regulations).

7  General conditions for imposition of annual levy

  For working out whether levy is imposed by subsection 8(1) of the Act on a person for a levy period, each of the following is a general condition prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 8(1)(b) of the Act:

 (a) the condition that the person is a leviable entity for the qualifying period for the levy period;

 (b) the condition that a law of the Commonwealth requires (directly or indirectly) the person to be a member of the AFCA scheme.

Note: For annual levy to be imposed on the person, subsection 8(1) of the Act requires each of these conditions to be met at any time during the qualifying period for the levy period.

8  General conditions for imposition of special levy

  For working out whether levy is imposed by section 9 of the Act on a person for a levy period, each of the following is a general condition prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 9(d) of the Act:

 (a) the condition that the person is a leviable entity for the levy period or the previous levy period;

 (b) the condition that a law of the Commonwealth requires (directly or indirectly) the person to be a member of the AFCA scheme at any time during the levy period or the previous levy period.

Part 3Amount of levy payable

Division 1Amount of annual levy for members of a subsector

9  Amount of annual levy

 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(1) of the Act, the amount of levy imposed by subsection 8(1) of the Act on a person for a levy period and a subsector is the sum of:

 (a) the minimum levy component for the subsector; and

 (b) the graduated levy component for the person for the levy period and the subsector.

Note: For the graduated levy component, see section 11.

 (2) The minimum levy component for each subsector is $100.

Note 1: The total amount of levy worked out under subsection (1) across all members of the subsector for the levy period will not cause the subsector levy cap for the levy period and the subsector to be exceeded (see paragraph (b) of the definition of subsector costs in subsection 11(1)).

Note 2: That total amount of levy will also not cause the scheme levy cap to be exceeded because the scheme levy cap will always exceed the sum of the subsector levy caps (see subsection 17(2) of the Act) for the subsectors prescribed in section 6 of this instrument.

10  Levy component for persons who are deregistered or who cease to be a member of a subsector

 (1) Despite section 9, the amount of levy imposed by subsection 8(1) of the Act on a person for a levy period and a subsector is nil if:

 (a) the person is required under section 8 of the Levy Collection Act to provide information to ASIC for the levy period; and

 (b) before the end of the day on which the information is required to be so provided:

 (i) the person is deregistered under Part 5A.1 of the Corporations Act 2001; or

 (ii) ASIC publishes a notice regarding the proposed deregistration of the person under section 601AA or 601AB of that Act; and

 (c) the person’s registration is not reinstated before the end of that day.

 (2) Despite section 9, the amount of levy imposed by subsection 8(1) of the Act on a person for a levy period and a subsector is nil if:

 (a) the person is required under section 8 of the Levy Collection Act to provide information to ASIC for the levy period; and

 (b) before the end of the day on which the information is required to be so provided, the person ceases to be a member of the subsector; and

 (c) the person does not resume being a member of the subsector before the end of that day.

11  Graduated levy component

 (1) The graduated levy component for a person for a levy period and a subsector is the amount worked out using the formula:

Start formula open square bracket sub-sector costs minus open round bracket minimum levy component times sub-sector population close round bracket close square bracket times start fraction graduated entity metric over sub-sector metric end fraction end formula

where:

graduated entity metric, for the levy period and the subsector, means:

 (a) unless paragraph (b) applies—the person’s entity metric for the levy period and the subsector; or

 (b) if the subsector is the credit providers subsector—the difference between:

 (i) the person’s entity metric for the levy period and the subsector; and

 (ii) $100,000,000.

Note: For the person’s entity metric, see section 12.

subsector costs means the lesser of:

 (a) the initial claims, fees and costs estimate for the levy period and the subsector; and

 (b) the subsector levy cap for the levy period and the subsector.

subsector metric means the sum of the amounts of graduated entity metric for the levy period and the subsector for all persons that form part of the subsector population.

subsector population means the difference between:

 (a) the subsector population (within the meaning of section 10 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017) for the subsector:

 (i) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (ii) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations; and

 (b) so many of that population as are not subject to the AFCA scheme at any time during that qualifying period.

 (2) However, if a component of the formula is nil or a negative amount, the amount of the graduated levy component is nil.

12  Entity metric

General rule

 (1) A person’s entity metric for a levy period and a subsector is worked out as follows:

 

Working out the person’s entity metric

Item

For this subsector:

The person’s entity metric is:

1

credit intermediaries subsector

the number of credit representatives (within the meaning of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009) the person has at the end of the qualifying period for the levy period.

2

credit providers subsector

the gross amount of credit provided by the person in the qualifying period for the levy period under credit contracts (other than small amount credit contracts or medium amount credit contracts).

3

licensed personal advice subsector

subject to subsection (2), the number of relevant providers (within the meaning of section 910A of the Corporations Act 2001) that:

(a) are registered on the Register of Relevant Providers (within the meaning of section 910A of that Act) at the end of the qualifying period for the levy period; and

(b) are authorised to provide personal advice to retail clients on behalf of the person.

4

securities dealers subsector

the total value of transactions in securities (as measured by the buy price plus the sale price of securities) that:

(a) are executed for the person on, or reported for the person to, a large securities exchange in the qualifying period for the levy period; and

(b) are reported by the operator of the large securities exchange to ASIC’s Market Surveillance System; and

(c) are recognised by ASIC’s Market Surveillance System as executed transactions.

For this purpose, 2 or more reports that relate to the same transaction, and contain the same information, are counted as one transaction.

 (2) For the purposes of working out the number of relevant providers under item 3 of the table in subsection (1) for a person that also forms part of a subsector mentioned in section 64, 65 or 67 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 at any time in the qualifying period for the levy period, disregard relevant providers that only provide the following kinds of advice:

 (a) advice on financial products that are admitted to quotation;

 (b) advice on financial products that are traded on a prescribed foreign financial market (within the meaning of subregulation 7.7A.12D(2) of the Corporations Regulations 2001);

 (c) advice on basic banking products.

Note: Those sections of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 describe the large futures exchange participants subsector, the large securities exchange participants subsector, and the securities dealer subsector.

Prorata adjustment of entity metric for certain subsectors

 (3) Despite subsection (1), if:

 (a) the subsector is the credit intermediaries subsector, and the person holds a licence of the kind mentioned in subsection 25(1) of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 on only some of the days in the qualifying period for the levy period; or

 (b) the subsector is the licensed personal advice subsector, and the person holds a licence of the kind mentioned in subsection 43(1) of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 on only some of the days in the qualifying period for the levy period;

the person’s entity metric for the levy period and the subsector is worked out by multiplying the amount worked out under subsection (1) for the person for the levy period and the subsector by the following fraction:

Start formula start fraction counted days over number of days in the qualifying period for the levy period end fraction end formula

where:

counted days means the number of days in the qualifying period for the levy period on which the person holds a licence of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) (as applicable).

Division 2Amount of further levy across members of the subsector

13  Amount of further levy—total levy does not exceed the subsector levy cap

 (1) For the purposes of subsection 13(1) of the Act, the amount of levy imposed by subsection 8(2) of the Act on a person:

 (a) for a levy period and a subsector; and

 (b) because a revised claims, fees and costs estimate comes into force for the levy period and the subsector;

is the amount worked out under subsection (2) of this section.

 (2) The amount is the difference between:

 (a) the amount that would have been worked out under paragraph 9(1)(b) for the person for the levy period and the subsector if paragraph (a) of the definition of subsector costs in subsection 11(1) were the revised claims, fees and costs estimate; and

 (b) the sum of the following:

 (i) the amount worked out under paragraph 9(1)(b) for the person for the levy period and the subsector (using the initial claims, fees and costs estimate for the levy period and the subsector);

 (ii) each amount (if any) worked out under an earlier application of this subsection for an earlier revised claims, fees and costs estimate that comes into force for the levy period and the subsector.

Note 1: The total amount of levy worked out under this section across all members of the subsector for the levy period will not cause the subsector levy cap for the levy period and the subsector to be exceeded (see paragraph (b) of the definition of subsector costs in subsection 11(1)).

Note 2: That total amount of levy will also not cause the scheme levy cap to be exceeded because the scheme levy cap will always exceed the sum of the subsector levy caps (see subsection 17(2) of the Act) for the subsectors prescribed in section 6 of this instrument.

14  Amount of special levy—total levy exceeds the subsector levy cap

 (1) For the purposes of subsection 14(1) of the Act, the amount of levy imposed by subsection 8(3) of the Act on a person:

 (a) for a levy period and a subsector; and

 (b) because the following have come into force for the levy period and the subsector:

 (i) a revised claims, fees and costs estimate;

 (ii) a determination under section 1069H of the Corporations Act 2001;

is the amount worked out under subsection (2) of this section.

 (2) The amount is the amount that would have been worked out under paragraph 9(1)(b) for the person for the levy period and the subsector if the subsector costs in subsection 11(1) were the lesser of:

 (a) the amount specified, under paragraph 1069H(4)(b) of that Act, in that determination; and

 (b) the amount by which the scheme levy cap exceeds the total amount of levy already imposed for the levy period:

 (i) across all persons across all subsectors; and

 (ii) before that determination was made.

Note: Paragraph (b) ensures the scheme levy cap will not be exceeded.

Division 3Amount of special levy across several subsectors

15  Amount of special levy—total levy exceeds the subsector levy cap

  For the purposes of subsection 15(1) of the Act, the amount of levy imposed by section 9 of the Act on a person:

 (a) for a levy period; and

 (b) because the following have come into force for the levy period:

 (i) a revised claims, fees and costs estimate for a subsector (the primary subsector);

 (ii) a determination under section 1069H of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Ministerial determination) for the primary subsector; and

 (c) because, at any time during the levy period or the previous levy period, the person is a member of a subsector (the leviable subsector) specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of that Act, in the Ministerial determination;

is the amount worked out under section 16 or 17 of this instrument.

16  Amount of special levy—basic levy component applies to the leviable subsector

 (1) This section applies to the person if a provision of Part 3 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 provides that the basic levy component (within the meaning of those regulations) applies to the leviable subsector:

 (a) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (b) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations.

 (2) The amount of levy imposed by section 9 of the Act on the person for the levy period and the leviable subsector is worked out using the formula:

Start formula total special levy times start fraction basic rate entity metric over sub-sector metric end fraction end formula

where:

basic rate entity metric has the same meaning as in section 9 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 for the person for the leviable subsector:

 (a) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (b) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations.

subsector metric means the difference between:

 (a) the subsector metric (within the meaning of section 9 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017) for the leviable subsector:

 (i) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (ii) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations; and

 (b) the sum of the amounts of basic rate entity metric for all leviable entities forming part of the leviable subsector for that qualifying period that are not subject to the AFCA scheme at any time during that qualifying period.

total special levy means, subject to subsection (3), the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for the leviable subsector in the Ministerial determination.

 (3) However, if the sum of the total amounts of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for all subsectors in the Ministerial determination exceeds the amount remaining in the scheme levy cap, the total special levy is worked out using the formula:

Start formula amount remaining in the scheme levy cap times start fraction total special levy for the leviable sub-sector over total special levy for all leviable sub-sectors end fraction end formula

where:

amount remaining in the scheme levy cap means the amount by which the scheme levy cap exceeds the total amount of levy already imposed for the levy period:

 (a) across all persons across all subsectors; and

 (b) before the Ministerial determination was made.

total special levy for all leviable subsectors means the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for all subsectors in the Ministerial determination.

total special levy for the leviable subsector means the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for the leviable subsector in the Ministerial determination.

Note: This subsection ensures the scheme levy cap will not be exceeded.

 (4) However, if a component of a formula in this section is nil or a negative amount, the amount of levy worked out using the formula is nil.

17  Amount of special levy—basic levy component does not apply to the leviable subsector

 (1) This section applies to the person if section 16 does not apply to the person in relation to the leviable subsector.

 (2) The amount of levy imposed by section 9 of the Act on the person for the levy period and the leviable subsector is worked out using the formula:

Start formula open square bracket total special levy minus open round bracket minimum levy component times sub-sector population close round bracket close square bracket times start fraction graduated entity metric over sub-sector metric end fraction end formula

where:

graduated entity metric has the same meaning as in section 10 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 for the person for the leviable subsector:

 (a) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (b) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations.

subsector metric means the sum of the amounts of graduated entity metric:

 (a) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (b) for the leviable subsector for all persons that form part of the subsector population.

subsector population means the difference between:

 (a) the subsector population (within the meaning of section 10 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017) for the leviable subsector:

 (i) for the financial year that is the qualifying period for the levy period; and

 (ii) for the purposes of levy of the kind worked out under those regulations; and

 (b) so many of that population as are not subject to the AFCA scheme at any time during that qualifying period.

total special levy means, subject to subsection (3), the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for the leviable subsector in the Ministerial determination.

Note: For the minimum levy component, see subsection 9(2).

 (3) However, if the sum of the total amounts of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for all subsectors in the Ministerial determination exceeds the amount remaining in the scheme levy cap, the total special levy is worked out using the formula:

Start formula amount remaining in the scheme levy cap times start fraction total special levy for the leviable sub-sector over total special levy for all leviable sub-sectors end fraction end formula

where:

amount remaining in the scheme levy cap means the amount by which the scheme levy cap exceeds the total amount of levy already imposed for the levy period:

 (a) across all persons across all subsectors; and

 (b) before the Ministerial determination was made.

total special levy for all leviable subsectors means the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for all subsectors in the Ministerial determination.

total special levy for the leviable subsector means the total amount of special levy specified, under paragraph 1069H(5)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001, for the leviable subsector in the Ministerial determination.

Note: This subsection ensures the scheme levy cap will not be exceeded.

 (4) However, if a component of a formula in this section is nil or a negative amount, the amount of levy worked out using the formula is nil.

Division 4Amount of levy for unpaid claims, and AFCA’s unpaid fees, for complaints given to AFCA before the accumulation recovery day

18  Amount of levy

  For the purposes of subsection 16(1) of the Act, the amount of levy imposed by section 10 of the Act on a person for the first levy period is the amount worked out using the formula:

Start formula estimate times start fraction person's total income for the 2021-2022 income year over total income of all leviable persons for the 2021-2022 income year end fraction end formula

where:

estimate means the lesser of:

 (a) the estimate determined under section 11 of the Levy Collection Act for the first levy period; and

 (b) the scheme levy cap.

Note: Paragraph (b) ensures the scheme levy cap will not be exceeded.

person’s total income for the 20212022 income year means the person’s total income for that income year (for the purposes of paragraph 3C(3)(b) of the Taxation Administration Act 1953).

total income of all leviable persons for the 20212022 income year means the sum of those total incomes for that income year for all persons on which levy is imposed by section 10 of the Act.