Skip to main content

Facilitating Digital Disclosure

Regulation Impact Statement – Australian Securities and Investment Commission

On 28 July 2015, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) released new waivers from the law and new guidance to make it easier for financial service providers such as banks, wealth management and superannuation providers to communicate with their customers digitally. Previously, specific agreement had to be made for account statements and financial disclosure documents to be sent digitally (while documents sent by post did not require specific agreement). The changes mean that documents may be sent to any address provided by a customer (including a postal or email address) and will allow providers to publish these documents digitally, and notify customers that they are available. Customers must be given the opportunity to opt out of digital communication. This is expected to significantly reduce costs for banks and other financial institutions in sending letters. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by ASIC, and has been assessed as compliant and consistent with best practice by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The RIS estimates the average annual regulatory saving at $299.1 million per annum. The OBPR has agreed to the regulatory saving.