The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has published new half-year data on reports of misconduct and its latest six-monthly Enforcement and Regulatory Update covering 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025, linking a sharp rise in complaints affecting retail investors to its enforcement focus on consumer and retail investor protection. The misconduct dataset records 7,561 reports raising 11,060 issues, including 5,909 issues in the financial services and retail investor category spanning credit, license obligations and conduct related to advice, insurance, and misleading and deceptive or unconscionable behaviour. The enforcement update highlights high-impact initiatives over the same period, including ASIC’s capital markets discussion paper on the dynamics between public and private markets, the expert panel-led inquiry into the ASX group’s governance, capability and risk management frameworks, action against multiple Macquarie Group entities for significant and repeated compliance failures, a AUD 27 million penalty against AustralianSuper for failing to merge multiple member accounts for more than 90,000 members over a 10-year period, and action against Choosi for alleged false representations about comparing products across funeral and life insurers. ASIC said it will now publish the misconduct data on a half-yearly basis to improve transparency, and reiterated that while it is not a complaints resolution body, it reviews all reports and uses them to inform surveillance, investigations and consumer guidance such as warnings and updates through Moneysmart.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission 2025-08-21
Australian Securities & Investments Commission reports 7,561 misconduct reports in H1 2025 and releases six-month enforcement update
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) released its half-yearly Enforcement and Regulatory Update, highlighting a rise in misconduct reports affecting retail investors, linked to its consumer protection focus. The dataset includes 7,561 reports with 11,060 issues, mainly in financial services and retail investor categories. Key enforcement actions include a AUD 27 million penalty against AustralianSuper and actions against Macquarie Group entities and Choosi. ASIC will now publish misconduct data biannually to enhance transparency, emphasizing its role in reviewing reports to guide surveillance and consumer advisories.