Parliamentary Joint Committee On Corporations And Financial Services, Opening Statement, 18 September 2025 - Opening Statement By ASIC Chair Joe Longo At The Parliamentary Joint Committee On Corporations And Financial Services, Inquiry Into The Oversight Of ASIC, The Takeovers Panel And The Corporations Legislation, Public Hearing On 18 September 2025

• I am pleased to be here for our first public hearing with the committee.
• As our dedicated oversight committee, we welcome the opportunity to engage with you and discuss a range of matters of interest to the committee as well as touch on the work that ASIC is undertaking.
• I am joined by Deputy Chair Sarah Court, Commissioners Kate O’Rourke and Simone Constant, CEO Scott Gregson, Executive Director Chris Savundra and Senior Executive Leader, Leah Sciacca.
• Commissioner Alan Kirkland is an apology due to being on leave.
• To assist the committee in its work, we have provided a submission and I will make some short introductory remarks now.

Our transformation into a modern, ambitious regulator

• From the day I took this job, I said I wanted ASIC to be a modern, confident and ambitious regulator.
• The strategies and structures we have put in place over the past five years are delivering on this stated objective.
• We are taking a more proactive approach to regulatory problems of the day;
• And as a law enforcement agency, we are taking more strategic and bold approach in the matters we choose to investigate, addressing the most pressing harms in our regulatory environment.
• We will be happy to discuss both areas in detail today.

Enforcement outcomes

• The transformation of our agency has helped to deliver a 50% increase in investigations, and a nearly 20% increase in new civil enforcement proceedings in the past year. In the first six months of 2025, we commenced 132 new investigations, compared to 63 investigations in the same period last year; and 23 new court actions, compared to 12 new actions in the same period last year.
• In the last six months, we also secured six criminal convictions and $57.5 million in civil penalties.

ANZ

• You will have noted this week the significant actions ASIC took concerning ANZ.
• Our actions reflect our serious and ongoing concerns about ANZ’s conduct over many years, and its failure to manage non-financial risk. Reflecting the seriousness of these matters, ASIC and ANZ will ask the Federal Court to impose penalties of $240 million in relation to four proceedings filed.
• ANZ has admitted to engaging in unconscionable conduct in services it provided to the Australian Government, incorrectly reporting its bond trading data to the Australian Government by overstating the volumes by tens of billions of dollars and to widespread misconduct across products and services impacting nearly 65,000 customers.

High risk super

• We are significantly invested in enforcement action relating to high risk super switching.
• ASIC has focused heavily on protective measures, including consumer education and warning campaigns, calling on Australians to be on red alert for high-pressure sales tactics, clickbait advertising and promises of unrealistic returns.
• Our first priority has been to preserve any remaining assets of the schemes to the extent they are available, so they can be recovered for investors. We are also actively exploring avenues for compensation for victims.
• We are also concerned about the adequacy of due diligence and monitoring of high-risk products by trustees.
• We recently commenced landmark court action against Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited (Equity Trustees), alleging failures in its due diligence concerning the Shield Master Fund.
• In addition, we have cancelled the AFS license of MWL Financial Services, and taken Ferras Merhi to court over his conduct, we have been in court more than 40 times already, executed search warrants, frozen assets and cancelled the licenses of advisers. Further action is not just possible, it is increasingly likely as we continue with these investigations.
• Our investigations into these high risk super investment matters are complex and ongoing.
• They include numerous lines of inquiry and a large number of entities and individuals, including lead generators, financial advisers, advice licensees, superannuation trustees, the research house, auditors and the managed investment schemes.
• While our first priority has been preserving assets for the benefit of investors, the next phase will be about holding key players to account.

Our current or recent priority work outside of enforcement

• We have and continue to be active in significant work from launching an inquiry into ASX, our groundbreaking work in identifying issues on Public and Private Markets and issuing reports on Death Benefits and Better Banking and Beyond with consequential redress for consumers often in vulnerable situations. Our proactive work to identify ways we can simplify the experience stakeholders have in engaging with ASIC has been well received.

Conclusion and commitment to continuous improvement

• So, while we are now positioned more strongly to respond to issues in our regulatory environment than we were five years ago, challenges remain.
• ASIC is not a complaint handling body, nor are we resourced to investigate and litigate every instance of alleged misconduct that comes to our attention. This means we must make careful and often difficult choices about where we direct our attention.
• Our ability to detect and respond to misconduct is increasingly strained by the exponential amount of data being provided to us, and the progressively sophisticated technologies of our regulated population.
• We continue to invest in our legacy technology and measures to uplift our data capabilities, but like many public sector organisations, we are facing growing demands on our resources.
• Under-investment in ASIC poses a risk to our regulatory work. Significant investment in digital technologies is needed to prevent misconduct.
• As we continue on our journey of transformation, we will continue to focus on investing in data, systems and technology to protect Australians and reduce the regulatory burden on business.
• We stand ready to assist the committee with its enquiries and we are happy to provide further detailed briefings around areas of interest for the committee.
• Thank you and we look forward to a productive conversation today.