Part I: Who's in control? Changes of control to an AFSL entity and your obligations

In this first-blog series, we examine the obligation of AFSL holders to determine whether there has been a change of control in their entity, and subsequently report any changes to ASIC.

ASIC has recently been clamping down on AFSL holders who become aware of any changes in control over their entity but have failed to notify ASIC of this change.

You may be aware that companies have to notify ASIC when their shareholders or officeholders change, which could denote a change of control. However, these notifications do not constitute a notification to ASIC to satisfy the obligations under your AFSL. If the change also results in a change of the licensee's ultimate holding company, a single transaction could result in three separate notifications to ASIC!