A major update of Regulatory Guide 97 Disclosing Fees and Costs in PDSs and Periodic Statements (RG 97) and the associated legislative instrument were released in November 2019. ASIC has slightly amended RG 97 and the instrument to adjust the transitional timeframes in response to COVID-19 and to provide greater clarity on the obligations following additional feedback from industry.
Key changes
ASIC has amended the transitional arrangements for product disclosure statements (PDSs) in response to COVID-19:
- PDSs given on or after 30 September 2022 must comply with the new requirements.
- Issuers can choose to apply the new requirements from 30 September 2020.
- Once an issuer has elected to apply the new requirements, all subsequent PDSs for that financial product must comply with the new requirements.
There is no change to the transition arrangements for periodic statements.
Minor technical refinements have been made to confirm ASIC’s policy positions in relation to:
- the disclosure of buy/sell spreads in periodic statements for collective investment products under Class Order [CO 14/1252];
- disclosure of performance fees;
- the identification and treatment of derivative costs; and
- significant event notice requirements.
ASIC has also clarified some definitions and amended the ‘Consumer advisory warning’ and ‘Example of annual fees and costs’ to correct inconsistencies between the templates in the legislative instrument and RG 97.
To give effect to these amendments ASIC has released:
- RG 97 (updated 24 July 2020)
- ASIC Corporations (Disclosure of Fees and Costs) Instrument 2019/1070
- ASIC Corporations (Amendment and Repeal) Instrument 2020/579 which amended ASIC Corporations (Disclosure of Fees and Costs) Instrument 2019/1070
More information about the new amendments can be found on our RG 97 website.
Next steps
ASIC will continue to monitor fees and costs disclosure and consider taking action where we find misconduct.
ASIC will continue to develop its proposals on disclosure by platforms. However it has deferred the public consultation on its proposals in response to COVID-19. (See: Changes to ASIC regulatory work and priorities in light of COVID-19)
