Good afternoon.
I am pleased to be here for ASIC’s first public hearing with this committee since the 2025 federal election.
I am joined today by Deputy Chair Sarah Court, Commissioners Kate O’Rourke, Alan Kirkland and Simone Constant, CEO Scott Gregson and Executive Director for Enforcement and Compliance, Chris Savundra.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Senator Lisa Darmanin and Senator the Hon Jane Hume for their new roles as chair and deputy chair of this committee respectively and all committee members, especially Senator Charlotte Walker who is new to Parliament and this committee.
Executive changes
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 well on its way. And we have the numbers to show it.
In the past year, there has been a 50% increase in investigations, and a nearly 20% increase in new civil enforcement proceedings.
In the first six months of 2025, we commenced 132 new investigations, compared to 63 investigations in the same period in 2024; 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.
ASIC has exceptionally dedicated, skilled and experienced staff and I cannot praise them highly enough.
And now I want to turn to some of the vital work we have been doing, particularly in the enforcement space.
High risk super
High risk super switching is a great concern to ASIC and this is a key area of focus for the agency.
The First Guardian and Shield Master Fund matters have received significant media coverage in recent months. We have 24 ongoing investigations into these matters, with more than 40 staff dedicated to them. We have appeared in court more than 45 times in relation to First Guardian and Shield matters. These are some of ASIC’s most complex and resource intensive investigations in our history. But I am pleased to say that our efforts are already yielding dividends.
On 25 September, following ASIC’s investigation it was announced that Macquarie Investment Management Ltd had committed to paying the thousands of Australians who invested hundreds of millions in their retirement savings in the Shield Master Fund. This means Macquarie will pay the approximately 3,000 affected members 100% of the amounts they invested in Shield, less any amounts withdrawn. This is a key outcome that stems the significant losses that threatened thousands of members’ retirement savings after they used Macquarie’s platform to invest their super in Shield.
As I have already said publicly a number of times, ASIC’s first priority in the high-risk super investigations has been to preserve any remaining assets of the schemes to the extent they are available, so they can be recovered for investors or to recover funds for investors through other possible means. I am pleased this has been achieved in the Shield matter. However, there is more work to be done to hold key players to account and we are actively exploring avenues for compensation for victims.
We are actively working with Treasury and the government to look at options for law reform in this area. We are coordinating with AFCA to provide guidance for consumers with complaints against financial firms (particularly those in liquidation) and superannuation trustees.
ANZ
Another high-profile matter is the action we took against ANZ in early September.
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.
Reflecting the seriousness of these matters, ASIC and ANZ will ask the Federal Court to impose penalties of $240 million in relation to the four proceedings filed. These are some of the highest ever penalties we have announced against a single entity. This reflects ASIC’s serious and ongoing concerns about ANZ’s conduct over many years in particular its institutional failure to manage non-financial risk.
Public private markets
From a modern, confident and ambitious regulator, it would not surprise you to hear that we have several significant regulatory workstreams alongside of our enforcement priorities.
I want to specifically note our work on public and private markets. Australian private capital funds have experienced significant growth and are becoming an increasingly important source of funding for the economy. Strong public and private markets are vital for business growth, investment, innovation and meeting Australia’s future economic needs.
In February this year, ASIC released a discussion paper outlining our preliminary views on capital market shifts and called for industry feedback. On 22 September, we published a progress report and expert paper on private credit in Australia which called on industry to lift its standards. Responses we have received to this work have been positive to date and the private credit industry has shown a willingness and openness to implementing greater consistency in standards and practices.
In November, we will publish our response to the February discussion paper and articulate our intended roadmap ahead. The shape of our future markets will be influenced by the actions we take next, and I look forward to updating the committee following the publication of our response.
There are many other key areas of focus for the agency including the ASX Inquiry, registries, auditors, our work around digital assets, vulnerable communities, insurance, simpler and better regulation, financial education via Moneysmart – all of which helps ensure that we have a fair, strong and efficient financial system for all Australians.
Thank you. We welcome the committee’s questions.
