The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced on October 12 that it wants to extend its existing CFD product intervention order to cover derivatives settled through digital assets, ensuring economically similar products face the same restrictions regardless of how they are settled.
Under current rules, CFDs are covered when settled in cash or through offsetting obligations, but some derivatives with comparable characteristics settle via transfers of digital assets, placing them outside the order. The change would require affected platforms to comply with existing leverage caps, margin close-out requirements, negative balance protections, and limits on promotional incentives.
For CFDs referencing cryptocurrencies, the maximum retail leverage is 2:1, meaning investors must provide at least half the value of their position. Other contracts face limits ranging from 5:1 for shares to 30:1 for major currency pairs. The proposed expansion would apply leverage limits based on the underlying exposure rather than automatically imposing the crypto cap on all digital-asset-settled products. Some fixed-expiry crypto futures and options would remain outside the framework.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said existing restrictions had materially reduced investor harm, particularly by limiting excessive leverage. The regulator is also seeking to extend the investor protections for another decade, keeping them in force until 2037, subject to government approval.