It has been an immense privilege to serve as Chair of ASIC and to have been given the opportunity to rebuild and renew the agency.
In June this year, I informed the Secretary to the Treasury I would not be seeking an extension to my term and I formalised this advice to the Treasurer earlier this month.
When I accepted the position, I was clear ASIC needed to become a modern, confident and ambitious regulator.
With the most significant organisational restructure in 15 years, new Commissioners, a new CEO and refreshed senior executive team, I see that transformation is delivering dividends.
From the doubling in ASIC’s investigations numbers and 20 per cent lift in civil enforcement proceedings over the last five years, to the increased funding we have secured to stabilise critical business registers essential to Australia’s economic infrastructure, to landmark reports and discussion papers on tackling regulatory complexity, private and public markets, superannuation member services and banks’ support for low income and hardship customers – the ASIC of today is better fulfilling what Australia needs of it.
That is just the beginning.
In the coming months before I complete my term, we will continue our key enforcement work including a heightened focus on misconduct in superannuation. ASIC’s public and private markets work will also continue, with a focus on efficiency and integrity, to attract investment and promote economic growth.
We will finalise the independent review of the ASX to ensure Australia has stable, secure and resilient market infrastructure. And we will embark on the next stage of work we began in 2024, to simplify regulation to help tackle the productivity challenges Australia faces.
ASIC has exceptionally dedicated, skilled and experienced staff and I cannot praise them highly enough.
While the time for extensive acknowledgements will come, I want to thank in particular Deputy Chair Sarah Court, who commenced on the same day as I did, both for her dedication and commitment to the work of ASIC and for her invaluable personal support of me as Chair. I also want to thank all the Commissioners with whom I have worked, for their support and contributions.
Background
- Joe Longo commenced as ASIC Chair on 1 June 2021 and his term will finish on 31 May 2026.
- He was the general counsel for Deutsche Bank in London and Hong Kong for 17 years, providing leadership across regulatory issues, governance, corporate law and non-financial risk.
- Before that, Joe was the national director of enforcement at ASIC between 1996 and 2001, and responsible for the coordination and direction of all enforcement and litigation activities.
- He has also been a senior adviser at Herbert Smith Freehills and practised in New York. Earlier in his career, Joe was a partner at Parker and Parker (now Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer).
- He is also a member of the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), he is the Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee of IOSCO, a member of the Trans-Tasman Business Committee and the EU Asia-Pacific Forum.
- Joe holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School.
