Australian Securities & Investments Commission publishes Corporate Plan highlighting increased enforcement activity and new regulatory initiatives

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has published its Corporate Plan 2025-26, setting out its priorities for the year ahead and reporting higher investigation and enforcement activity over the past year. ASIC linked the uplift to organisational changes and positioned the plan as a response to an increasingly complex operating environment, with resources directed to areas of greatest risk and potential harm. The release reports a 50% increase in formal investigations and a nearly 20% rise in new civil enforcement proceedings, with 252 formal investigations and 38 new civil proceedings commenced in 2024-25 (up from 168 and 32 respectively in 2023-24). The plan flags more than a dozen new initiatives including reviews of offset accounts and debt collection, work on whistleblower protections and SMSF establishment advice, alongside ongoing priorities such as tackling high-risk super switching, progressing a roadmap for public and private capital markets, holding superannuation trustees to account, and continuing ASIC’s inquiry into the ASX. Regulatory simplification is formalised as a core focus in ASIC’s 2025-29 plan, building on the ASIC Simplification Consultative Group, and the Corporate Plan also signals a new suite of performance measures to strengthen how ASIC assesses and communicates its performance.