KWM Australian Credit License (ACL) Obligation Set

This content item includes the Australian Credit License (“ACL”) Obligation Set with the responsibilities that you can assign to people or groups within your organisation and can be associated with reminders and checks for ongoing compliance.

If you engage in credit activities, you will generally need to have an ACL, unless you are somehow exempt or authorised to engage in those activities as a representative of a credit licensee.

This ACL Obligation Set has been created by King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) as a baseline to help you as an ACL holder operate your credit business properly by complying with the most common credit license obligations. We note that this ACL Obligation Set has not been designed to assist a credit representative in complying with their obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (the “NCCP Act”)). Further, we note that the following provisions have not been included within this ACL Obligation Set:

• sections 75 to 77 of the NCCP Act, which outline the statutory imposition of liability;
• Chapter 2, Part 2-4 of the NCCP Act, which outlines the process around banning orders;
• Chapter 4 of the NCCP Act, which relates to remedies;
• Chapter 5 of the NCCP Act as it relates to the role of the Registrar and other administrative matters;
• Chapters 6 and 7 of the NCCP Act, which relate to ASIC compliance and enforcement, and miscellaneous provisions.

The ACL Obligation Set includes a set of obligations along with an associated set of responsibilities. Each obligation in this case is linked to the relevant requirements found within the NCCP Act - excluding the National Credit Code in Schedule 1 of the NCCP Act – and the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010 (Cth). In preparing the responsibilities, guidance contained in the following ASIC Regulatory Guides has been considered:

• ASIC Regulatory Guide 78: Breach reporting by AFS licensees and credit licensees
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 205: Credit licensing: General conduct obligations
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 206: Credit Licensing: Competence and training
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 207: Credit Licensing: Financial Requirements
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 209: Credit licensing: Responsible lending conduct
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 210: Compensation and insurance arrangements for credit licensees
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 234: Advertising financial products and services (including credit): Good practice guidance
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 271: Internal dispute resolution

There are 157 controls across 25 different domains which are listed below. Further detail to assist you in understanding the application of these domains is included within the “Builder” mode of the ACL Obligation Set for each domain under “Description”:

• Licence requirement
• General conduct obligations
• Compliance with ASIC requests
• Breach reporting
• Additional obligations of licensees
• Credit representatives
• Record keeping
• Trust account
• Credit assistance responsible lending obligations
• Credit assistance and short-term / small amount credit contracts
• Credit provider responsible lending obligations
• Key Fact Sheet obligations
• Specific obligations relating to credit cards contracts 
• Specific obligations relating to small amount and short-term credit cards contracts
• Supply of credit information
• Reverse mortgages
• Credit assistance in relation to consumer leases
• Lessor responsible lending obligations
• Mortgage brokers and mortgage intermediaries
• Debt collectors
• Prohibited conduct
• Authorisations for deductions by employer of debtor or lessee
• Documents lodged with ASIC
• Concealment or falsification of credit books
• Code of conduct

Disclaimer:

The ACL Obligation Set is prepared by King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) for 6clicks and is current as at 9 December 2022. By accessing this content, you acknowledge and agree that KWM has not been engaged to act as your legal adviser in connection with the ACL Obligation Set. Consequently, they have no relationship with you or any obligations to you of a contractual or fiduciary nature. The release of the ACL Obligation Set to you does not give rise to a solicitor-client relationship between you and KWM. Neither KWM nor its associated entities or any of their respective partners, directors, officers or employees will be liable to you for any loss (including indirect, consequential or economic loss), damages, costs or expenses suffered or incurred, directly or indirectly, under or in connection with the use of or reliance on the ACL Obligation Set by you, including losses, damages, costs or expenses arising as a result of breach of contract, statutory duty, negligence or any other act or omission. Any reliance on the ACL Obligation Set is entirely at your own risk. Should you require legal advice, please contact KWM at [email protected]