For consumers
For consumers
For consumers
Banned and disqualified people
Providers of financial services and credit operating in Australia must be licensed by ASIC. They must meet specific requirements to get and hold their licence, and ASIC may cancel their licence or ban them if they fail to meet those requirements.
Before you invest, get financial advice or take on credit you should check ASIC’s registers to ensure the companies and people you are dealing with are licensed to provide financial services or credit and have not been banned.
- Banned and disqualified register
- Financial adviser register
- Financial services and credit licences
- Investor alert list
- Managed investment schemes
- Product disclosure statements and prospectuses
- Public warnings from ASIC
Banned and disqualified register
You can look up people on our banned and disqualified register to see if they have been banned from providing financial advice, engaging in credit activities or disqualified from managing a company.
Financial adviser register
Our financial adviser register has details on where a financial adviser has worked, their qualifications, training, memberships of professional bodies and what products they can advise on.
Our Moneysmart website also has guidance on how to choose a financial adviser.
Financial services and credit licences
Companies that provide financial services must hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence, while those offering credit to consumers must hold an Australian credit licence. These licences control the kinds of financial services and credit products they can offer and whether they can operate legally in Australia. Search the ASIC Professional Registers Search to find out if a company holds an AFS or credit licence.
Investor alert list
Check the investor alert list to help you know which companies, business and websites (or ‘entities’) are not to be trusted. If someone is on this list, be wary of dealing with them.
Managed investment schemes
Managed investment schemes with more than 20 members must be registered with ASIC. You can search the ASIC Professional Registers Search to see if the scheme is registered.
Offer documents are required by law to help you make investment decisions. Fundraisers issue these documents and are legally responsible for them. All registered managed investment schemes must lodge a product disclosure statement with ASIC. You can check they have done so on ASIC’s Offer Notice Board.
Product Disclosure Statements and prospectuses
If the company you want to invest with provides a product disclosure statement (PDS) or prospectus you should read the document to help you make an informed decision about the investment. You can check if the PDS or prospectus has been lodged with ASIC on our Offer Notice Board.
Public warnings from ASIC
At times, ASIC also issues warnings to the public about investment products or websites that make false, misleading or deceptive statements about financial services. These warnings are issued after ASIC receives complaints from investors.
Related links
- ASIC’s News centre – Find out about the action that ASIC has taken against companies