The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) published an implementation roadmap for the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, which brings digital asset platforms (DAPs) and tokenised custody platforms (TCPs) into the financial services licensing regime from 9 April 2027. ASIC plans to consult on new regulatory guidance and to make legislative instruments setting operational standards, ahead of licensing, supervision and enforcement under the new regime. Over the next 18 months, ASIC will run stakeholder roundtables and establish an industry advisory group, consult on proposed standards and guidance, and then issue a new Regulatory Guide for DAPs and TCPs and set standards covering asset-holding (section 912BE), transactional and settlement requirements (section 912BF) and financial requirements aligned to its existing approach in Regulatory Guide 166. Early indications include transactional and settlement expectations informed by market integrity rules (for example fair, orderly and transparent operation, execution and transparency practices, listing criteria, monitoring and reporting of misconduct, operational resilience and settlement arrangements), asset-holding standards based on Regulatory Guide 133 (including trust or equivalent structures, segregation, reconciliation and withdrawal rights), and financial requirements such as liquidity and net tangible assets with periodic auditor review. The INFO 225 class no-action position will expire in June 2026, and entities will need to comply with existing licensing requirements during the implementation period. ASIC expects to consult on how it will apply discretion in the regime (including around responsible managers), standard licence conditions and a possible streamlined licence variation process for some cohorts, alongside updates to existing licensing guidance (including Regulatory Guide 1 and Regulatory Guide 166) and targeted cross-references in other guides and information sheets. Licence applications are planned to open in months 12 to 18 of the roadmap, with regulatory relief while applications are processed, followed by full implementation from month 18 onwards.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2026-04-20
Australian Securities & Investments Commission sets 18-month roadmap to consult on standards and guidance for licensing digital asset and tokenised custody platforms
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission published an implementation roadmap for the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, which will bring digital asset and tokenised custody platforms into the financial services licensing regime from 9 April 2027. Over the next 18 months ASIC will consult on and set operational, asset-holding, transactional, settlement and financial standards, update licensing guidance, and open licence applications with interim relief, while the existing INFO 225 no-action position will expire in June 2026 and entities must comply with current licensing requirements during the transition.