It has been just over a year since the Design and Distribution
Obligations ("DDO") commenced on 5
October 2021. While most Australian Financial Services licensees
and Australian Credit licensees have their Target Market
Determinations ("TMDs") published on
their website, ASIC has started identifying deficiencies in many
TMDs as well deficiencies in licensees' overall compliance with
the DDO regime.
ASIC's Recent Work and Enforcement Actions
In 2022, ASIC issued over 20 interim stop orders on product
issuers halting the issuance and distribution of financial/credit
products. In December 2022, ASIC commenced the first civil penalty
action against American Express Australia as a financial product
issuer and the first civil penalty action against Firstmac as a
distributor of financial products. Continuing onto 2023, ASIC's
first enforcement priority is targeting poor design, pricing and
distribution of financial products (including credit products).
