ASIC has officially launched its new digital portal for businesses submitting Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) applications, offering a more “efficient, modern and user-friendly” experience.
From 5 May 2025, individuals looking to operate a financial services business can now apply for a licence through the corporate regulator’s new digital portal.
The tool is integrated into the ASIC Regulatory Portal and is designed to provide a more “efficient, modern and user-friendly” experience for AFSL applicants, ASIC stated, streamlining the way licensees submit applications.
“While the core information that ASIC is seeking from licence applicants has not changed, the interface and the method for responding to questions has been redesigned to improve the user experience,” the regulator explained.
“The key changes and benefits for applicants include the automatic pre-filling of application details, eliminating the need to separately upload additional documentation and the ability to select financial products and services at a more granular level so that ASIC can better understand the financial services that applicants intend to provide.”
To help facilitate the transition, the existing eLicensing system will remain operational until the transactions are available in the new portal. This means AFSL applicants can choose to lodge an application through the Regulatory Portal or the eLicensing system until then.
ASIC first flagged that it was piloting a new portal to improve the process of applying for, varying, or cancelling an AFSL in August 2024. Later in March this year, it said the initiative would ease the process of applying for a licence as it aims to reduce processing times and improve the overall user experience for AFS licensees and applicants.
“This is part of the wider digital transformation we are making towards becoming a more efficient and data-informed regulator,” it stated in March.
ASIC said the portal launch marks a key milestone in its RegistryConnect program, as it looks to improve its business and professional registers.
“The AFS licences project is a part of our RegistryConnect program to uplift ASIC’s business and professional registers, and the wider digital transformation ASIC is making towards becoming a more efficient and data-informed regulator.”
Last month, the regulator also released a consultation paper on its plan to publish two dashboards containing reportable situations and internal dispute resolution regime data in the second half of 2025.
This would see firm-level data go public, ASIC stated, including businesses’ names and AFSL numbers, in hopes that advice licensees will “lift their game”.
This is possibly the worst change of a platform I have EVER seen, and I have seen my fair share of “updates” of platforms that provide NO improvements and in fact cause more work and in this particular case, has lost functionality.
Slightly off the subject, but relevant to this “efficiency” program is the procedure for changing an auditor. Within the old Licensee portal (this was February) a form FS07 existed its purpose is lost to me and even though I have asked ASIC what its purpose is given its rejection, I received no answer on several occasions. If you are changing auditors DO NOT USE this form. Apart from the fact that the outgoing auditor needs to provide an FS08 (exactly the same info) but it MUST BE A WET signature.
It has taken us 5 months to change auditors, and now to the next issue.
The new portal (Regulatory Portal) has NO provision to update the new auditor, and they have removed it from the old licensee portal??? Do these people have a test regime at all?? I am now on hold with ASIC for the next hour to find out how to update the auditor details.
What is the bet that something that used to take 2 minutes, will now be a written request? Anyone willing to take the bet?
Does ASIC truly think that this is more efficient than logging into the Licensee portal, used for the last 20 years, than having to ring them to sort out a simple auditor update, something I have done many times for many clients. STOP changing things for change sake. The old portal might not have been pretty, but it actually provided everything we needed to operate and cooperate with ASIC.