The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has opened a consultation period on a plan to fold 17 separate legislative instruments governing financial reporting and auditing relief into two consolidated documents, giving industry participants until July 10, 2026, to respond. Released on June 1, 2026, the proposal falls under ASIC’s ongoing regulatory simplification agenda and carries relevance for insurance professionals, given that a number of the instruments in scope govern obligations for entities — including AFS licensees, registered schemes, and corporate collective investment vehicles (CCIV) – that operate across financial services markets.
Under the proposal, the existing patchwork of 17 instruments would be replaced by two: the ASIC Corporations (Annual and Half-year Reporting) Instrument 2026/XXX, which draws together 14 financial reporting-related instruments, and the ASIC Corporations (Auditing) Instrument 2026/XXX, which consolidates three auditing instruments. According to ASIC, the rationale behind the consolidation is threefold:
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The draft Financial Reporting Instrument covers a broad range of relief that has accumulated across multiple years of rulemaking. Among the instruments being absorbed are those that allow stapled entities to present combined or consolidated financial statements as though the stapled group were a single entity, and those permitting parent entities to include their own single-entity financial statements alongside the consolidated group report. Relief for natural person AFS licensees, which involves tailored financial reporting obligations distinct from those applying to corporate licensees, is also brought into the consolidated instrument. So too is relief covering foreign-controlled companies that meet certain conditions allowing them to sidestep the requirement to prepare and lodge financial reports with ASIC.
Other instruments being folded in address rounding of figures in financial and directors’ reports, the treatment of disclosing entities that enter or exit that status mid-financial year, and the synchronisation of financial years for entities tied to foreign parent reporting cycles. Relief allowing certain information to be moved from a directors’ report into accompanying documents, and relief enabling listed entities to lodge financial and sustainability reports electronically with market operators, are also captured.
Two further instruments deal with the ability of entities to disregard technical relief that would otherwise restrict access to disclosure concessions under the Corporations Act and the presentation of pro forma balance sheets to explain the financial effects of material acquisitions or disposals occurring after a reporting period ends. Instruments addressing non-reporting entity concessions and related scheme reporting – where registered schemes may include the reports of related schemes within their own financial, directors’, and sustainability reports – round out the 14 being consolidated.
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On the auditing side, the draft instrument brings together three existing instruments. The first, the ASIC Corporations (CCIV Auditors) Instrument 2024/668, relates to lodgement requirements for corporate directors of retail Corporate Collective Investment Vehicles when appointing an auditor. The second, the ASIC Corporations (Auditor Independence) Instrument 2021/75, sets out an exemption allowing lead auditors to omit certain non-material financial interests from their independence declarations, subject to conditions. The third, ASIC Corporations (Audit Relief) Instrument 2016/784, contains audit-related relief for certain proprietary companies. ASIC noted that provisions in section 6(i), (s), and (v) of Instrument 2016/784 will not carry over into the consolidated instrument.
Not every instrument from an earlier consolidation pilot makes it into the current drafts. ASIC said certain relief was excluded because it had become redundant or was not suited to the repeal structure of the consolidated instruments. The relief contained in the ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785 is among the omissions, with ASIC flagging it requires further review before any consolidation decision is made. The regulator indicated that relief may be added to the Financial Reporting Instrument at a later stage, when that instrument is remade following its sunsetting under the Legislation Act 2003. Under that Act, legislative instruments lapse after 10 years unless action is taken to preserve them. ASIC confirmed that its standard instrument review and remake work will continue in parallel with the consolidation process.
The current proposal draws on feedback gathered through a consolidation pilot that accompanied Report 813 Regulatory Simplification, with further detail set out in Report 830 Regulatory Simplification Progress Report. ASIC also indicated it is open to receiving input on simplification opportunities beyond those already identified in the draft instruments.
Written feedback can be directed to [email protected] by 5pm AEST on July 10, 2026. Submissions may be lodged anonymously or under an alias, though ASIC noted it would be unable to follow up with respondents who choose not to identify themselves. Submissions will be treated as public unless a confidentiality request is made. Draft instruments are available through ASIC’s consultation page, CS 54 Proposed Consolidation of Financial Reporting and Auditing Instruments.
