Regulator announces adviser industry funding levy for FY24–25

In its draft Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS), the corporate regulator said the cost of regulating licensees that provide personal advice to retail clients was $39.27 million in 2024–25, with this to be divided among a total of 2,680 Australian Financial Services licensees, encompassing 15,233 advisers.

As such, the levy will amount to a minimum $1,500 plus $2,314 per adviser. This represents a decrease from the previous financial year’s rate of $2,691 per adviser, which had been adjusted downward from the initial estimate of $2,878.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the cost of regulating the sector in 2023–24 was $45.01 million.

Of the $39.27 million projected for FY24–25, which represents a 12.75 per cent decrease from the prior year, enforcement costs are expected to come in at $17.18 million, while supervision and surveillance is forecast at $5.62 million.

Costs for regulating licensees providing personal advice on products that are not relevant financial products are expected to drop to $43,940 from $90,901.

For licensees that provide general advice only, ASIC predicts that the regulation cost almost double the prior year, jumping from $2.8 million to $5.2 million for FY24–25.

For those that provide personal advice to wholesale clients only, costs are projected to remain steady at $1.6 million.

Across the broader financial services industry, ASIC said the total estimated recoverable costs are $349.3 million — a 6 per cent increase from the $328.1 million recovered in 2023–24. The regulator said this increase reflects additional funding to support key government priorities, including:

• Implementation of the scams prevention framework.
• Mandatory climate-related financial disclosures.
• Beneficial ownership transparency reforms.
• Enhancements to ASIC’s data capability and cyber security.

The CRIS provides estimated regulatory costs and levies for each of ASIC’s 52 regulated subsectors to help entities plan and budget for levies and fees to be charged.

“The variance is considered material if the estimated recoverable costs for the subsector this financial year are different from the actual recoverable costs last financial year by more than 10 per cent, and the variance is also greater than $1 million,” ASIC said.

“The statement’s figures are a guide only. Final levies will be published in December 2025 and invoiced between January and March 2026.”