Financial Services companies are at risk of hefty fines due to ASIC RG 271 non-compliance.

Is your organisation at risk of fines?

ASIC RG 271 poses real risks if complaints aren’t lodged correctly. Yet many Financial Services companies are falling short.

Compliance teams often assume full compliance. But RG 271’s complexity makes breaches very common, leading to audits and fines.

Recent high-profile RG 271 lawsuit: $11.1 million in fines

A high-profile company you've heard of (easy to Google!) recently faced court over ASIC RG 271 breaches, including:

• Failing to inform complainants of AFCA escalation rights
• Missing the 45-day response deadline
• Failing to explain delays
• Inadequate staffing for compliance

With $11.1 million in potential fines and lasting reputational damage, don’t risk the same pitfalls—ensure your organisation is RG 271 compliant.

Frontline teams failing to capture complaints data compliantly

Many frontline teams breach RG 271.179: “Firms must record all complaints they receive” by failing to log complaints resolved at first contact.

Why?

Complex processes, outdated tools, and a culture of avoiding minor complaint logging make compliance difficult. But under RG 271, even informal complaints—like phone resolutions—must be logged.

Your current system makes RG 271 compliance near-impossible

You may rely on a Complaints Management system like a spreadsheet or CRM patch - but most tools burden staff with cumbersome data entry.

As a result, only serious complaints get logged, putting your organisation at risk of breaches., Frontline staff need speed, not complex, jargon-filled forms. When systems aren’t user-friendly, complaints aren't logged correctly.

The board aren't aware of the level of risk

Compliance leaders we speak to often say:

“You’re right—we’re not RG 271 compliant and at risk of fines. I’ll take this to the board, but they probably won’t listen.”

Boards often fail to act, not understanding the entire risk. But if they’re aware and ignore non-compliance, they’re accountable.