ASIC is consulting on proposals for clearer guidance on financial resources requirements for licensed market operators in Australia.
The draft proposed updates to Regulatory Guide 172 Financial Markets: Domestic and overseas operators (RG 172) aim to support market resilience by providing greater clarity on the amount and types of financial resources required to support resilience, and how to interpret ASIC’s guidance.
ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said, ‘Resilience is foundational to the ongoing growth and competitiveness of our capital markets. It is the bedrock upon which innovation, efficiency and productivity improvements can be built at scale in our capital markets. Building and maintaining resilience requires sustained focus, disciplined execution, transparency of operations and practice, clear accountability and, ultimately, adequate financial resourcing.
‘Clearer guidance will help market operators comply with regulatory expectations and maintain sufficient financial resources to navigate periods of disruption and support the orderly functioning of Australia’s financial markets. In this era of heightened strategic risk, resilience and sound foundations of our capital markets have never been more important nor offered more opportunity for our competitiveness for the decade ahead.’
ASIC’s proposed updates to RG 172 include clarifying:
- the form and availability of financial resources
- additional scenario and stress testing for significant market venues, and
- reporting and monitoring requirements.
ASIC’s consultation is open until 5pm AEDT 4 December 2026. Further information including draft regulatory guidance, a summary of changes and how to make a submission, is available at CS 69 Proposed update to ASIC’s guidance on financial resources requirements for market licensees (RG 172).
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Background
Licensed operators of financial markets in Australia (market licensees) are obligated to have sufficient resources to operate their markets properly under s792A(1)(d) of the Corporations Act. This includes sufficient financial resources (the financial resources requirements) as well as sufficient technological and human resources.
Guidance to support market licensees’ compliance with the financial resources requirements is currently found in RG 172.68 to RG 172.74. The guidance provides high-level principles for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 market licensees on:
- the objectives of the financial resources requirements (RG 172.68)
- how market licensees should assess the sufficiency of their financial resources (RG 172.69-72), and
- additional requirements a market licensee may be required to comply with if certain factors or risks are relevant (RG 172.73-74)
