ASIC Regulatory Guide 78: Breach reporting by AFS Licensees

This guide is for Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and responsible entities. It gives guidance on your obligations under s912D of the Corporations Act to report to ASIC certain breaches of the law. Responsible entities also have an obligation under s601FC(1)(l) to report breaches. This guide does not cover certain reporting obligations: see RG 78.5.

In particular, it covers when an entity must report a breach including:

• Who must comply with the reporting requirements
• The types of breaches that must be reported
• What a ‘likely’ breach means
• What a ‘significant’ breach means
• What arrangements you should have for recording and reporting breaches
• How you report a breach
• When you must report a breach
• What ASIC does with the breach information
• The penalties for not reporting a breach

This guide also explains how ASIC deals with breach notifications, including taking enforcement action.