ASIC’s 11th hour securities dealer CSLR levy recalc

With the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) due to start issuing Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) levy notices today, securities dealers are facing into a changed levy amount.

ASIC has written to those in the securities dealer sub-sector to inform them of the changed amount based on the exclusion of key product classes, including exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Its message said that ASIC has recalculated the entity metric to exclude transactions on large securities exchanges in certain product classes that may include products that do not meet the definition of ‘securities’ as defined in s92(5) of the Corporations Act 2001.

“Product classes excluded in the recalculation of the entity metric are exchange traded funds, listed investment trusts, real estate investment trusts, trading warrants, ASX exchange traded options and certain structured products,” the message said.

The ASIC message said the updated levy payable would not result in a change to the total amount levied to the sub-sector in 2025-26 but will impact the distribution of levies within it.

It said that for the 2025-26 levy period, licensees within the securities dealers sub-sector will incur a minimum levy of $100 plus $21.69 per $1 million of annual transactions in securities on a large securities exchange.

The levy for securities dealers compares to the minimum levy of $100 plus $1,295 being applied to the personal advice sector and the minimum levy of $100 plus $3.62 per $1 million of credit provided above $100 million for credit providers.

The ASIC web site notes that the total estimate for the personal financial advice sub-sector is $70.110 million but ASIC is required to cap the annual levy at $20 million.

“Whether the remaining amount (eg $50.110 million) is imposed as a special levy is subject to the Minister’s discretion,” it said.