The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has made key senior executive appointments as part of its continued organisational transformation, aimed at strengthening its regulatory and enforcement functions.
Following an international recruitment process, ASIC chair Joe Longo announced that Peter Soros will join the regulator as executive director of regulation and supervision in November 2024.
Soros has been with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) for over two decades, working on financial regulation and compliance. He currently serves as deputy CEO of regulation. He has also served in ministerial portfolios for Human Services and Justice, and holds a Bachelor of Business Studies.
Chris Savundra has been appointed executive director of enforcement and compliance, effective Oct. 28, 2024.
Savundra, who has been with ASIC for several years, is currently the agency’s general counsel and executive director of legal services. He has been involved in significant ASIC litigation, including the high-profile Bank Bill Swap Rate case.
He has more than 25 years of legal experience in regulatory and enforcement matters. Before joining ASIC, he worked with major law firms Allens Arthur Robinson (now Allens) in Perth and Herbert Smith in London. He holds law degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Western Australia, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce.
ASIC is now recruiting to fill Savundra’s current role as general counsel.
These leadership changes form part of ASIC’s largest internal restructure in 15 years. The regulator has recently expanded its executive team, appointing new leaders across several departments.
In 2023, three new commissioners were added, and this year has seen appointments including:
ASIC is also preparing to launch a global search for a permanent CEO, following Warren Day’s temporary secondment to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Longo noted that the leadership changes are a critical part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to modernise and enhance its operations.
“We continue to change and evolve so we can ensure ASIC is an ambitious, confident, and modern regulator,” he said. “The cumulative effect of these changes will help ensure ASIC is set up to meet the challenges and opportunities the agency faces.”
Alongside these appointments, ASIC has laid out its expanded focus on public and private markets as well as new financial products in its Corporate Plan for 2024-25.
Longo stressed that enhancing market transparency and integrity remains central to ASIC’s mission, particularly as private markets grow and present new challenges for regulation.
ASIC’s updated focus includes setting clearer expectations for market participants and improving consistency and transparency across all sectors it regulates.
