AML/CTF Reform 2026: What to do now - AUSTRAC’s AML/CTF reforms begin in 2026, impacting existing reporting entities and expanding the regime to new services. Learn what’s changing, where firms get caught out, and how to build governance, data and controls that stand up to scrutiny.

Design and Distribution Obligations: Keeping Products in the Right Hands. Australia’s DDO regime now sits at the heart of ASIC’s enforcement agenda. This article explains RG 274, TMDs, significant dealings and recent court cases – and how OCG helps issuers, brokers and advisers build defensible product-governance frameworks.

RG 78 Breach Reporting: From Panic to Proof. The reportable situations regime is now a cornerstone of ASIC’s oversight. This article explains the latest RG 78 timeframes, relief and data trends – and how OCG helps licensees turn breach reporting into evidence of strong governance, not just a 30-day scramble.

Consumer Data Right: From Consent to Competitive Advantage. Open Banking raises the bar on consent, security and CX. OCG helps banks, platforms and fintechs design compliant journeys, secure APIs and data-minimised pipelines, plus assurance and MI that prove control, turning CDR into growth, not just compliance.

RG 78 Breach Reporting: From Incidents to Evidenced Improvement. Breach reporting should prove control, not just confess failure. OCG designs trigger taxonomies, investigation standards, report templates and MI that make RG 78 timely, complete and prevention-focused, linking IDR, DDO and remediation so systemic issues are fixed fast and evidenced for boards and regulators.

Financial Advice Reforms & DBFO: From Red Tape to Outcomes: Australia’s Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms will reshape who can give advice, how it is documented and what it costs. OCG explains the new advice duties, Client Advice Records, tax deductibility changes and the new class of adviser, and how firms can turn reform into a simpler, more scalable advice model.

RG 271 IDR: Fast, Fair, Defensible Complaints Handling. Meet compressed timeframes, raise response quality and turn complaints into governance signals. OCG builds IDR operating models, QA and MI that reduce AFCA escalations, inform DDO and RG 78, and demonstrate fairness for vulnerable customers.

CPS 234: From Policy to Proof. APRA’s information-security standard demands board ownership, robust controls and supplier equivalence. OCG helps institutions inventory assets, harden identity and data, test attack paths, and build third-party assurance and incident readiness-backed by MI that proves effectiveness and supports CPS 230 resilience.

FAR: From Paper Maps to Real Accountability. FAR raises the bar on leadership responsibility across banks, insurers and super trustees. OCG builds operating models, statements/maps and reasonable-steps evidence, tied to remuneration, notifications and third-party oversight, so accountability improves control, speeds remediation and withstands scrutiny.

ASIC’s DDO regime demands clear TMDs, enforceable distribution conditions and evidence of reasonable steps. OCG helps issuers and distributors operationalise DDO, designing TMDs, detecting significant dealings, and building dashboards that tie complaints, breaches and sales exceptions to fast remediation.

Scam Prevention in Payments: From Name-Checks to Recovery. Australia’s new scam-control landscape blends policy (SPF), industry initiatives (CoP) and real-time analytics. OCG helps banks and payments firms deploy payee verification, behavioural detection and recovery playbooks, with MI and assurance that prove results and reduce harm.

Comprehensive Credit Reporting & Hardship Indicators: From Data to Better Decisions. CCR adds positive repayment data; hardship flags highlight customers who need support. OCG helps lenders govern data end-to-end, incorporate signals into scorecards and rules, and build assurance and MI that prove fair, consistent outcomes, strengthening affordability, collections and regulatory confidence.

Payments System Modernisation & PSP Licensing: From Perimeter Risk to Competitive Advantage. Australia’s payments reforms expand the regulatory net to digital wallets, BNPL, gateways and other PSPs, reshaping licensing, outsourcing and risk expectations. OCG helps banks, payments providers and fintechs map payment functions to the new framework, design licensing and entity strategies, uplift controls for scams and resilience, and deliver board-ready implementation plans that turn compliance into an edge.

AML/CTF Tranche 2 & Beneficial Ownership: Getting Ahead of Australia’s Next Reform Wave. Australia’s AML/CTF regime is evolving, with Tranche 2 proposals and beneficial ownership reforms set to expand obligations and raise expectations for financial crime risk management. Learn how OCG helps banks, super funds, wealth and asset managers, insurers, platforms, brokers, payments firms and fintechs assess the impact, uplift EWRAs and CDD/EDD, improve ownership data and monitoring, and build financial crime programmes that are practical, defensible and ready for the next phase of regulatory change.

Australian Sanctions Compliance: Integrating Sanctions into Financial Crime Risk Management: Australian financial institutions face growing expectations to manage sanctions risk alongside AML/CTF and broader financial crime obligations. Discover how OCG helps banks, insurers, super funds, platforms, brokers and fintechs design sanctions risk assessments, tune screening and investigation workflows, align with DFAT and international regimes, and provide boards with the MI and assurance they need to oversee sanctions exposure confidently.

Australian Credit Licence (ACL): Scope, Evidence, Approval. Your ACL shapes how you bring credit products to market. OCG designs defensible licence scopes, Responsible Manager coverage, and evidence-rich policies/monitoring so applications, variations, and expansions progress smoothly, reducing risk, speeding approvals and enabling scale across credit provision, assistance and intermediated models.

CPS 511 Remuneration: From Policy to Outcomes That Stand Up to Scrutiny. APRA’s remuneration standard ties reward to risk, conduct and customer outcomes. OCG helps boards design risk-balanced scorecards, implement deferral/malus/clawback, and build evidence-rich MI and assurance so remuneration decisions are fair, defensible and aligned to long-term resilience.

CPS 220 Risk Management: From Policy to Practical Control. CPS 220 sets the baseline for risk governance across APRA-regulated institutions. Discover how OCG designs risk appetite statements, operating models, control libraries, KRIs and assurance maps, plus MI that decision-makers actually use, so you meet prudential expectations, reduce remediation risk and build resilience across financial and non-financial risks.

Australia’s move to ISSB-aligned climate reporting raises expectations for boards and risk teams. OCG helps financial institutions design operating models, standardise data and methodologies, run scenario analysis, and prepare assurance-ready evidence, aligning disclosures with strategy, product governance and anti-greenwashing controls to build trust with investors and regulators.

Transparent fees and costs are central to consumer trust and product comparability. OCG helps super funds and investment managers operationalise RG 97, standardising calculations, governing data from external managers, aligning PDS/website/adviser materials, and embedding QA and assurance, so disclosure stays accurate, consistent and resistant to challenge.