The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has published its 2022-23 Annual Report, highlighting enforcement actions it said resulted in positive outcomes for consumers and small businesses.
During 2022-23, ASIC's enforcement actions resulted in 35 criminal convictions and nearly $190 million in civil penalties and fines imposed by Australian courts. It also conducted over 130 new investigations.
“ASIC remains focused on maximising our regulatory impact by addressing areas of greatest harm. Our priorities reflect the key trends and emerging issues in our regulatory environment, including the growth in sustainable finance, Australia's ageing population, emerging and disruptive digital technologies and associated risks, and product design and distribution,” said ASIC Chair Joe Longo. “We have made considerable progress against these priorities throughout the year, and this work continues.”
Among ASIC's enforcement actions, major ones include the corporate watchdog's first enforcement action for alleged greenwashing, taking action against predatory conduct aimed at consumers and small businesses, targeting poorly designed products with stop order powers, taking action against directors who breached their duties, reviewing Australian businesses' cyber resilience practices, and scam prevention and detection by major banks.
“There are a significant number of ongoing investigations and surveillance activities that we will report on in the year ahead,” Longo said. “We have a sharp focus on achieving positive outcomes for consumers and small business. We will continue to work with our stakeholders and financial industry participants to improve conduct and strengthen trust in the system, as well as enforce the law to greatest effect.”
Over the last seven years, ASIC has dealt with over $7 billion of remediation to approximately 8.42 million Australian consumers for failures it identified across the Australian financial services industry.
