In a speech launching new research on financial technology and regtech, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission said innovation is now affecting nearly every part of the global financial sector and argued Australia needs to move faster on new market technologies to avoid falling behind. ASIC said the research supports a principles-based regulatory approach focused on accountability and oversight rather than technology-specific rules, while maintaining governance and conduct standards. ASIC said Australia is already strong in areas such as buy-now-pay-later and real-time payments, citing more than 1.82 billion transactions on the New Payments Platform and PayTo in 2025, but said gaps remain elsewhere. It pointed to automated insurance claims handling and lower-cost robo-advice as examples of how technology could improve claims processing and widen access to advice in Australia. The speech also highlighted market hesitancy, noting that about half of firms approached in ASIC's tokenisation survey declined to participate or meet and only one third provided detailed feedback. ASIC linked the research to its broader innovation agenda, including regulatory simplification, work with the Reserve Bank of Australia and other Council of Financial Regulators agencies on a potential digital financial market infrastructure sandbox, and efforts to improve pathways from the regulatory sandbox to licensing. It also said it will host a Financial Markets Innovation roundtable and publish further research on capital market innovation and tokenisation in June.

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