The ASXSR report (available on www.asxsr.com.au ) found that ASX met appropriate standards in the conduct of its supervisory activities and conducted those activities ethically and responsibly. The ASXSR chairman Mr David Hoare also specifically applauded ASX's initiative to develop and monitor appropriate corporate governance standards.
The ASXSR report coincided with the release of the ASX's own assessment of its supervisory performance (available on www.asx.com.au), as required under the Corporations Act. Taken together with the recent audit by the government regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) praising ASX's supervisory effort, today is a landmark in a continuing supervisory oversight that has been unprecedented in its intensity.
ASX managing director and CEO Richard Humphry said ASX welcomed continued examination of its role, a scrutiny that has increased significantly since the establishment of ASXSR was announced in November 2000. Since then, corporate law reform has imposed additional, annual audits of ASX for each market it operates and each clearing and settlement operation it conducts.
Today's reports demonstrate ASX's consistent and very high level of commitment to market integrity, meeting - and in many cases exceeding - its statutory obligations as a market operator and clearing and settlement facility provider.
"It is important to note that these assessments follow on from earlier, quite exhaustive studies of ASX's supervisory role and performance," Mr Humphry said. "These have ranged from parliamentary committees, through earlier ASXSR reports to, more recently, the comprehensive audit by ASIC, the first in an annual exercise required under law. All have acknowledged the high priority ASX places on this role, and all have applauded that commitment.
"There will always be close interest in how the market operator carries out its role, and that is as it should be. ASIC noted that we maintained markets 'of high integrity', and it is imperative for ASX that this perception remain both accurate and widely held. Millions of investors and thousands of businesses continue to invest or participate in our markets on this basis."
