Corporations (Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort - Special Levy) Determination 2025

The Corporations (Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort - Special Levy) Determination 2025 is a Commonwealth legislative instrument made under the Corporations Act 2001. Its role is specific. It specifies that a special levy needs to be imposed for the 2025-26 levy period under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort framework, and it sets the amount of that special levy across 23 financial services sub-sectors.

The instrument is not a broad conduct law for all businesses. It is directed at regulated entities that fall within defined ASIC levy sub-sectors. The determination states that it was made after the Minister was notified under subsection 1069F(3) of the Corporations Act 2001 that a revised claims, fees and costs estimate for the licensed personal advice sub-sector could cause that sub-sector levy cap for the levy period to be exceeded, and after the Minister was satisfied of the matters set out in subsection 1069H(5) of the Act.

The total amount of special levy specified by the instrument is $47,289,000.03. That total is then allocated across the listed sub-sectors in the table in section 6. For businesses, the key point is that this is a sub-sector allocation instrument. It is not the full rulebook for how much a particular entity will pay or when payment must be made.

The determination was not made in the abstract. The instrument itself says the Minister made it after being notified that a revised claims, fees and costs estimate for the 2025-26 levy period for the licensed personal advice sub-sector could cause that sub-sector levy cap to be exceeded. The instrument also says the Minister was satisfied of the matters required by subsection 1069H(5) of the Corporations Act 2001.

That matters because it shows this instrument sits inside a larger statutory process. It is not simply a policy announcement or a general budget measure. It is a formal step taken under the Corporations Act when the statutory conditions for a special levy determination are engaged.

Section 5 then states that, under subsection 1069H(2) of the Act, and for the purposes of paragraph 1069H(5)(a) of the Act and paragraph 9(b) of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Act 2023, a special levy has been specified as needing to be imposed by section 9 of that Act for the 2025-26 levy period in accordance with the instrument.

For a business owner or compliance lead, the practical reading is straightforward. This determination is one step in the legal chain. It tells you that a special levy has been specified and how the total is spread across listed sub-sectors. You still need the related legislation to work out collection and payment consequences at entity level.

The businesses most likely to be affected are those that are members of one of the listed sub-sectors for the 2025-26 levy period. The instrument does not create its own plain-English business categories. Instead, it adopts sub-sector definitions by reference to the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017.

That means the practical question is not what your business calls itself in marketing material. The real question is whether your entity falls within one of the adopted regulatory sub-sectors for the relevant levy period. If you are already subject to ASIC levy classification, that is a strong sign this instrument may be relevant.

The listed sub-sectors include claims handling and settling services providers, credit intermediaries, credit providers, custodians, deposit product providers, insurance product distributors, insurance product providers, large futures exchange participants, large securities exchange participants, several categories of advice licensees, managed discretionary account providers, margin lenders, operators of investor directed portfolio services, payment product providers, responsible entities, retail over-the-counter derivatives issuers, risk management product providers, securities dealers, small and medium amount credit providers, superannuation trustees, and traditional trustee company service providers.

Because the definitions are adopted by reference, businesses should be careful with labels such as fintech, platform, wealth business, payments startup, advice network or trustee services provider. Those labels may be commercially useful, but they do not determine the legal sub-sector. The adopted definition in the ASIC levy regulations does.

Most ordinary businesses will not be directly affected. If you run a hospitality business, ecommerce store, construction business, general consultancy, manufacturing business or non-regulated technology company, this determination will usually not apply to you.

Even in the fintech space, the distinction is important. A software provider to advisers, lenders, trustees or product issuers is not necessarily in scope. The key issue is whether your own entity is a member of one of the listed sub-sectors, not whether your customers are.

Businesses can also be caught out by group structures. A parent company may think it is unaffected, while a licensed subsidiary or operating entity is the actual member of the relevant sub-sector. That is why entity mapping is a practical first step.

Being outside scope is usually about the absence of the relevant regulated status, not about business size or revenue. A small licensed operator may be in scope, while a much larger unregulated supplier to the sector may be out.

The instrument performs a narrow statutory function. Section 5 specifies that a special levy needs to be imposed for the 2025-26 levy period. Section 6 then sets the amount of special levy that needs to be imposed across all members of each listed sub-sector. Section 7 states the total amount of special levy across those sub-sectors.

This is important for businesses because the instrument is about levy specification and allocation at sub-sector level. It is not the document that gives you the full collection process, invoice mechanics or all entity-level calculation details. The note to section 6 says that, for payment of special levy, businesses should see Part 3 of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy (Collection) Act 2023.

So there are really three separate questions. First, are you in a listed sub-sector? Second, does the collection legislation make your entity liable for a share of the sub-sector amount? Third, what amount and timing apply to your entity in practice? The determination helps answer the first and part of the second, but not all of the third.

That distinction matters in practice. A business can read the table and understand the total amount allocated to its sub-sector, but still need further legal and operational checking before it can work out its own payment exposure. Treat the determination as one part of the framework, not the whole framework.

Section 6 contains the table of 23 sub-sectors and the amount of special levy to be imposed across all members of each sub-sector for the 2025-26 levy period. The largest amount is for licensees that provide personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients, at $10,389,867.63.

Other larger amounts include $7,230,226.06 for credit providers, $6,489,313.20 for responsible entities, $6,100,082.25 for superannuation trustees, and $4,406,958.61 for large securities exchange participants. There are also much smaller amounts for some sub-sectors, such as $1,042.52 for margin lenders and $20,981.47 for licensees that provide personal advice to retail clients on only products that are not relevant financial products.

The total amount across all listed sub-sectors is $47,289,000.03. Section 7 states that total expressly. The note to section 7 also states that the sum specified does not exceed the difference between the revised claims, fees and costs estimate for the levy period and the licensed personal advice sub-sector, and the total amount of levy already paid as worked out under subsection 1069H(6) of the Act.

The determination relies heavily on definitions adopted from the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017. The definitions section of the instrument lists each sub-sector and says that, for the 2025-26 levy period, the sub-sector has the meaning given by a specified provision of those regulations.

That means this page cannot replace the classification exercise. If your business is close to the line, operates across several regulated activities, or has changed products or authorisations, you need to check the adopted definitions directly. The instrument is clear that the meaning of each sub-sector comes from those regulations for the relevant levy period.

This is especially important for businesses that use broad commercial labels like fintech, platform, advice network or payments business. Those labels do not determine the legal sub-sector. The adopted regulatory definition does.

It is also important because the determination covers a wide spread of activities. Advice, credit, custody, product issuance, trustee services, claims handling and market participation are all treated through specific sub-sector definitions. A business should not assume that a rough description of its services is enough to classify itself correctly.

The instrument does not create a long list of operational conduct rules, but it does create practical compliance tasks for businesses in scope. The first task is classification. You need to know whether your entity is a member of one of the listed sub-sectors for the 2025-26 levy period.

The second task is governance and budgeting. If your entity is in scope, finance and compliance teams should recognise that a special levy has been specified and that payment issues need to be checked under the separate collection legislation. The third task is entity identification. In a group structure, the relevant member may not be the parent company or the brand-facing entity.

For founder-led or lean financial services businesses, the practical approach is to review licences, authorisations, products and regulated activities against the adopted sub-sector definitions, then make sure the issue is reflected in budgets, cash flow planning and management reporting.

Where there is uncertainty, record the basis on which you reached your view. That helps management, finance teams and advisers assess whether the business is clearly in scope, clearly out of scope, or needs further analysis.

If this determination may affect your business, start with the documents that show your regulatory footprint. That usually includes your AFSL or credit licence position, product descriptions, authorisations, internal regulatory mapping, and any existing ASIC levy classification records.

You should also review how your group is structured. The relevant member of a sub-sector may be a subsidiary, trustee, responsible entity or other operating vehicle rather than the entity that signs customer contracts or raises capital. If your business has recently expanded into advice, payments, credit, custody or trustee services, that is a practical trigger to re-check classification.

Where there is uncertainty, record the basis on which you reached your view. That can help management, finance teams and advisers assess whether the business is clearly in scope, clearly out of scope, or needs further analysis.

The instrument defines the 2025-26 levy period as the 12-month period starting from 1 July 2025. It was made on 11 December 2025 and registered on 12 December 2025. Under the commencement provision, the whole instrument commences on the day after registration.

That means the levy period starts from 1 July 2025, while the instrument itself commenced after registration in December 2025. Businesses should read those dates together rather than assuming the levy period and commencement date are the same thing.

The register metadata also indicates a future repeal date of 1 April 2036. That future repeal does not change the practical need for businesses in scope to deal with the 2025-26 levy period now.

A boutique advice firm that provides personal advice on relevant financial products to retail clients should not assume this determination is only for large institutions. Its first step is to confirm whether it falls within the adopted advice sub-sector definition, then check the collection rules that apply to members of that sub-sector.

A fintech business offering regulated payment products through a licensed operating entity should check whether that entity is a payment product provider in the relevant sub-sector. The issue is not whether the business is innovative or venture-backed. The issue is whether the entity is legally within the adopted sub-sector definition.

A software company that sells tools to advisers, lenders or trustees is usually outside scope if it is not itself the regulated provider in a listed sub-sector. But if the same group also has a licensed subsidiary carrying on regulated activities, the analysis may be different for that subsidiary.

A trustee or managed funds group should also be careful not to assume that one label covers the whole structure. Different entities in the group may perform different regulated roles, and the relevant sub-sector question must be asked at entity level.

Businesses often ask whether this determination itself tells them exactly what to pay. It does not. It specifies that a special levy needs to be imposed and allocates the amount across sub-sectors, but payment mechanics are dealt with elsewhere.

Another common question is whether only large institutions are affected. The answer is no. If a smaller business is a member of a listed sub-sector, size alone does not take it out of scope. The legal classification question comes first.

Businesses also ask whether the determination creates new sub-sector definitions. It does not. The instrument adopts definitions from the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 for the 2025-26 levy period, so those regulations need to be checked carefully.

This overview is based on the registered text of the Corporations (Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort - Special Levy) Determination 2025 on the Federal Register of Legislation, including the commencement provision, the definitions section, the table of sub-sector amounts in section 6, the total amount in section 7, the note to section 6 about payment, and the statement in the instrument about the notification that preceded the determination.

It should be read together with the Corporations Act 2001, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy Act 2023, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy (Collection) Act 2023, and the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017. Because the determination allocates amounts at sub-sector level, businesses should confirm their own entity-level position before relying on it for payment outcomes.