Uniform regulation
Purpose: comparable financial products are subject to the same regulations.
Updated as at 11 March 2004.
What is a financial product?
The definition of a financial product is very broad under FSR. It covers all products which involve:
- making a financial investment;
- managing a financial risk; or
- making non-cash payments.
Some products are specifically included in the definition, including:
- shares and debentures;
- managed funds;
- derivatives;
- general and life insurance (with specific exclusions);
- superannuation interests; and
- deposit taking facilities made available by a bank or similar financial institution.
But other products (which might fall into the catch-all definition above) are excluded, including:
- some types of insurance - including health, reinsurance and insurance provided by the Commonwealth, a state or the Northern Territory;
- interests in some unregistered managed investment schemes;
- contracts for future services; and
- credit facilities (which are not financial products if their whole or predominant purpose is the provision of a credit facility).
What are the rules?
If you're selling financial products, you must comply with disclosure requirements. You may also have to become
licensed if you're providing financial services.
