Michael Anastas
Michael is a Partner in the Regulatory and Financial Services Group and advises clients across Australia and overseas.
His practice encompasses financial services regulation, banking and consumer credit, payment systems and products, debit, credit and prepaid facilities, privacy, anti-money laundering and personal property securities.
Michael has considerable financial services advisory and project experience including new product development, dealing with the regulators, advising on major outsourcing and distribution arrangements and implementing regulatory reforms including FOFA, NCCP, PPS, AML/CTF and Privacy.
Michael also advises one of Australia’s largest prepaid product issuers and advises clients in the payments sector on innovative regulated and unregulated product development and alliance arrangements including mobile payments and peer to peer systems.
During his career, Michael has worked under a secondment arrangement as in house legal counsel with Suncorp from which he gained a valuable understanding of the operations and commercial needs of a large financial services institution.
Michael has been named in Best Lawyers AustraliaTM as a leading lawyer in the areas of Financial Institutions and Regulatory Practice for the past six years.
Experience
Michael’s experience includes advising:
- Clients and regulators by working to obtain Australian Financial Services (and Market) Licences, Australian Credit Licences and APRA and RBA authorisations and exemptions;
- Various lenders on providing advice and training on consumer credit and related compliance and distribution issues and assisting on the implementation of NCCP licensing disclosure and responsible lending requirements; and
- Private sector and public sector clients on privacy and freedom of information requirements and issues.