The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) wants credit providers to transact business according to the new 11 regulatory guides.

ASIC chairman Tony D'Aloisio is preparing the credit industry for a new regime that can efficiently police the application of responsible lending obligations to credit-card applications and credit-card limit increases. The new credit regime will also strictly enforce risk-based compliance reviews of credit businesses.

D'Aloisio said, “Going forward, our focus is on smoothly transitioning the industry to the new credit regime and ensuring our oversight of the industry is effective.”

Under the new credit guidelines, “verification surveillances” will be conducted to verify the information in licence applications. The monitoring scheme will keep credit providers within the system.

The ASIC head said ASIC's role is limited. He said. “We oversee the system but, unfortunately, accidents can still happen.”

D'Aloisio compared ASIC's market surveillance activities to that of a police force. He said, “Unlicensed drivers can be on the road. We also look for roads where accidents can happen and try and fix them ahead of time, and we are constantly looking (through a wide range of surveillance work) for unlicensed drivers. But . . . ASIC is not resourced, to be on every road and at every intersection.”