Australia’s corporate regulator has renewed a legal instrument that lets licensed financial firms place client money in cash common funds, preserving an arrangement that was due to expire.
The replacement instrument, numbered 2026/727, keeps the existing relief in force until October 1, 2031. It applies to Australian Financial Services licensees and permits client money to be deposited into a cash common fund when that fund is also a registered managed-investment scheme.
The relief is narrower than an unrestricted power to pool client assets. Money held under it may be invested only in fixed-interest securities and negotiable instruments, while the safeguards in section 981B of the Corporations Act continue to apply.
ASIC received one submission during consultation, urging either stronger justification or additional conditions. The regulator said it had found no adverse information from the existing arrangement and decided that further conditions were unnecessary. The new measure replaces the 2016 instrument that reached its sunset date on October 1. ASIC’s official notice describes the instrument and consultation outcome.
