Australia’s corporate regulator has unveiled plans to overhaul its two-decade-old guidance on how financial services firms manage conflicts of interest, launching a consultation on proposed updates to Regulatory Guide 181.
ASIC said the refresh of RG 181, last updated in August 2004, reflects changes in law and policy and draws on the commission’s surveillance of private markets. The revised guide is intended to clarify how Australian financial services (AFS) licensees should meet their conflicts management obligations, including the scope of the law and how it intersects with related duties.
ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke said: ‘Conflicts management is a core obligation for financial services businesses and helps promote consumer protection and market credibility. ‘Conflicts of interest are more than mere moral dilemmas. They can undermine trust, integrity and performance, causing serious harm to consumers, investors and overall market confidence.’
Under the proposals, ASIC sets out the types of conflicts AFS licensees must identify and address, emphasises the need for robust, tailored arrangements that are adequate to manage conflicts, and outlines practical ways to manage them. A roadmap signposts other, related obligations that licensees should consider alongside RG 181.
‘These updates support ASIC’s strategic priority to improve transparency and consistency across products and markets and aim to ensure financial markets operate efficiently and fairly,’ O’Rourke said.
The consultation sits within ASIC’s broader regulatory maintenance program and aligns with its simplification agenda. Feedback can be provided via Consultation Paper 385: Proposed update to RG 181 Licensing: Managing conflicts of interest, with submissions due by 5 pm AEST on 5 September 2025.
ASIC noted that conflicts of interest are a significant source of misconduct and consumer, investor and economic harm in the sector. The Corporations Act 2001 requires AFS licensees to comply with the conflicts management obligation in s912A(1)(aa), which ASIC says should apply to all conflicts except those occurring entirely outside a financial services business. Conflicts were also flagged by stakeholders responding to ASIC’s February 2025 discussion paper on the dynamics between public and private markets. The regulator plans to release findings later this year from surveillance of auditors’ compliance with independence and conflicts rules.
