Market infrastructure - Australia
Reference
Institutions and organisation
Stock Exchanges and related institutions - The ASX Group (www.asx.com.au)
The former Australian Stock Exchange and SFE Corp, the operator of the Sydney Futures and Exchange, merged in July 2006. The merged group was initially rebranded the “Australian Securities Exchange” and is currently marketed as the “ASX Group”. The ASX Group consists of the following business lines:
- Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange is the brand name used to provide trading services for listed equities, warrants, debt securities (through the market known as ASX) and of derivatives (through the market known as ASX24, the former Sydney Futures Exchange). - ASX Clearing Corporation
The ASX Clearing Corporation is the brand name used to deliver clearing services through ASX Clear and through ASX Clear (Futures). Both companies provide central counterparty facilities and associated services. - ASX Settlement Corporation
The ASX Settlement Corporation is the brand name used to provide settlement services through ASX Settlement (the former ASX Settlement and Transfer Corporation, ASTC) and through ASX Austraclear (hereinafter referred to as Austraclear). - ASX Compliance
ASX Compliance is the brand name used to deliver monitoring and enforcement services of the ASX Group's operating rules.
CBoe Australia (https://www.cboe.com.au)
Cboe Australia was formerly known as Chi-X Australia. It is an alternate trading platform to the ASX. All securities tradable on ASX are also tradable on Cboe. Both the ASX and Cboe Australia are licensed as market operators by ASIC. ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 165 (Best Execution) and RG 274 (Market Operators – ATS) govern how brokers can achieve best price across the two venues
CSDs
Australia does not have a CSD for ASX-listed securities as these holdings are held directly on the issuers’ records. ASX uses the CHESS system to record the holdings and facilitate electronic and paperless settlement.
Australian unlisted debt securities are held with the Austraclear CSD.
- CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System)
CHESS is operated by the ASX Settlement Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
ASX trades are cleared and settled through CHESS. The street side (broker to broker) of ASX trades routinely settles through the daily CHESS net settlement batch. The net settlement batch also supports the client side (settlement between brokers and non-brokers) of ASX trades. Eligible transactions are netted on a multilateral basis, net securities positions are settled through CHESS and net cash settlement is completed via RITS (Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System), a real-time gross payment system operated by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Positions deposited in CHESS are automatically recorded in the CHESS register, an electronic subregister that forms part of Australian listed companies' principal registers. Each entity admitted to the official list of the ASX is required to participate in CHESS unless the law of a foreign jurisdiction precludes participation. - Austraclear (www.asx.com.au/settlement/asx-austraclear.htm)
Austraclear provides custody and settlement services (FIS and Repo) for a range of Australian debt securities such as Australian Commonwealth and state government securities, semi-government securities, corporate debt, mortgage-backed securities, negotiable bills of exchange, certificates of deposit and commercial paper. Austraclear's RTGS system settles transactions throughout the day: securities are transferred on a gross basis within Austraclear, and cash transfers through the Reserve Bank of Australia's RITS system. In addition to settling eligible securities transactions, Austraclear also offers a two-sided real-time gross payment service using the Reserve Bank of Australia's RITS system (Austraclear matches the payer's and receiver's instructions before settling the payment through RITS).
Central Bank - Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) (www.rba.gov.au)
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), through its Payments System Board, sets Australia’s payments‑system policy. The RBA also operates RITS (Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System), the country’s real‑time gross settlement (RTGS) platform for high‑value interbank payments and the cash leg of securities settlement. The broader regulatory framework includes APRA, which prudentially supervises payment‑system participants, and ASIC, which enforces consumer‑protection and competition requirements in the payments market.
Regulatory structure
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (www.ato.gov.au)
The ATO is the government’s principal revenue collection agency. The role of the ATO is to administer legislation for taxes, superannuation and excise (but not customs duty). - Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (www.asic.gov.au)
ASIC is the main regulator and supervisor of Australia's securities markets and of its participants (including ASX Settlement and Austraclear). ASIC enforces Australia's Corporations Law and financial services laws in the securities markets with the objective of protecting investors, consumers and creditors alike. - ASX
ASX Compliance has responsibility for the oversight of listed entities under the ASX Listing Rules and for monitoring and enforcement of compliance with the operating rules by market, clearing and settlement participants. - Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) (www.apra.gov.au)
The APRA is the regulator and supervisor of Australia's banking system. - Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
As an independent government body, the RBA regulates the country's banking and finance sectors. In keeping with Australia's payments system policy the RBA defines and imposes financial stability standards on licensed clearing and settlement facilities (including ASX Settlement and Austraclear). - Council of Financial Regulators
Collaboration between Australia's main financial regulatory agencies is facilitated by the Council of Financial Regulators. The Council comprises representatives from ASIC, APRA, RBA and from Australia's Department of Treasury. Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) (www.firb.gov.au)
The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) reviews and advises the Australian Government on all foreign‑investment proposals that fall under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. While FIRB’s role is purely advisory, the Treasurer (acting as the Minister for Foreign Investment) holds the statutory authority to approve, vary or refuse those proposals and sets Australia’s overall foreign‑investment policy.- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) (www.austrac.gov.au)
Australia is a full member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and is not listed on any FATF blacklist. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) – now governed principally by the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and its accompanying AML/CTF Rules – is the specialised agency tasked with creating a financial environment hostile to money‑laundering, serious crime and major tax evasion. AUSTRAC defines customer‑identification and record‑keeping rules for all financial service providers (including crypto‑asset service providers), collects and analyses transaction and suspicious‑matter reports, monitors illicit financial activity, and supplies financial intelligence to the Australian Taxation Office, law‑enforcement agencies and other revenue bodies through the National Financial Intelligence Centre.
