After years of speculation (see our earlier articles
here and
here), product intervention in the CFDs sector has come to
Australia. This article sets out the 8 conditions proposed by ASIC,
and some of our commentary. As Australian lawyers acting for a
large portion of the industry, product intervention has been a key
topic of interest in Australia since 6 December 2016 when the FCA
made its announcement to impose the restrictions on the sector.
This was followed by an IOSCO paper that same month, along with the
Australian government's proposal to introduce design,
distribution and product intervention laws. See
here for our commentary.
Earlier this year, the design, distribution and product
intervention laws came into effect. ASIC was given the legislative
power to issue a product intervention order for individual
businesses, or broader, market-wide sectors. ASIC
issued its first consultation paper on 26 June 2019, concluding
on 7 August 2019. That first
