Mackay Chapman March ASIC Update
In this month’s ASIC update:
- Record penalties and hundreds of millions returned to Australians
- New regulatory framework for employee entitlement schemes
- Director disqualified for five years after multiple company failures
- Short selling relief extended for precious metal products
- Financial advice sector facing broader regulatory scrutiny
- Pulse Markets licence cancelled over sustained compliance failures
- Digital assets regulation framed through existing financial law
- ASIC continues simplifying regulatory guidance
Read on for the full scope.
Record penalties and hundreds of millions returned to Australians
ASIC closed out 2025 with one of its most active enforcement periods on record.
Between July and December, courts ordered $349.8 million in civil penalties, the highest six-month total ASIC has ever secured.
The penalties followed major enforcement actions against several large institutions, including ANZ, NAB, Cbus and RAMS. The largest was a combined $250 million penalty against ANZ for misconduct affecting the Australian Government, taxpayers and nearly 65,000 retail customers.
ASIC’s work will also result in $583 million being returned to Australians through refunds, remediation and compensation linked to investigations. This includes payments connected to the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund matters, as well as refunds from excessive bank fees identified during ASIC’s Better and Beyond review.
Enforcement activity remained extensive across the board. ASIC launched 123 new investigations, completed 518 surveillances, filed 23 civil proceedings and commenced 11 criminal prosecutions. Courts also recorded 17 criminal convictions.
Reports of misconduct also increased by 28% compared with the previous six-month period, with corporate governance failures a key driver.
New regulatory framework for employee entitlement schemes
Operators of employee entitlement schemes are moving into a new regulatory phase, with ASIC releasing guidance ahead of upcoming licensing requirements.
From 1 April 2026, operators will face new transparency and governance obligations under the Corporations Act. They will also need to apply for an AFS licence by 1 September 2026.
To assist with the transition, ASIC has issued Information Sheet 295 outlining how the new framework will operate.
The guidance explains the transitional relief that will apply between April and the point when licences are granted, as well as the process for operators to apply for authorisation.
Employee entitlement schemes typically exist to fund benefits payable when employees leave their employment or to cover long-service leave entitlements. Historically, operators of these schemes have benefited from relief from licensing and managed investment scheme provisions.
That position is now changing. ASIC will introduce a legislative instrument in March 2026 to provide both transitional and ongoing relief from certain provisions of the Corporations Act while the licensing regime takes effect.
ASIC has also indicated that it will conduct targeted consultation with existing operators before finalising the instrument, signalling further regulatory engagement with the sector over the coming months.
Director disqualified for five years after multiple company failures
ASIC has disqualified New South Wales director Claudio Criniti from managing corporations for the maximum period of five years following the collapse of seven companies.
Between April 2023 and September 2024, Mr Criniti acted as director of Lamio Masonry Contractors, Reliance Food and five other companies. When ASIC made its decision, the companies collectively owed more than $8 million to creditors.
Those debts included approximately $2.6 million owed to the ATO, $466,288 to Revenue NSW, $434,151 to the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer and almost $4.84 million to trade creditors.
Around $298,000 was owed to employees for wages, superannuation and leave entitlements.
The decision relied on reports prepared by liquidators from Cor Cordis and Westburn Advisory, with funding assistance provided through the Assetless Administration Fund.
Mr Criniti is disqualified from managing corporations until February 2031 and may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal to seek a review of ASIC’s decision.
Short selling relief extended for precious metal products
ASIC has extended conditional short selling relief for market makers involved in certain precious metal-backed exchange traded products.
The updated instrument allows appointed market makers dealing in specified structured products referencing precious metals to short sell those products under the same conditions that already apply to exchange-traded fund market makers.
The amendments also add Global X Physical Gold Structured as an approved product that market makers in exchange-traded options can short sell when hedging risks arising from market-making activity.
In addition, ASIC has expanded reporting relief so that covered short sale transaction reporting rules apply to market makers in these structured products in the same way they apply to ETF market makers.
The changes took effect on 3 February 2026 and form part of ASIC’s broader approach to maintaining liquidity in exchange-traded markets while managing settlement risk.
Market makers intending to rely on the exemption are expected to review the amended instrument carefully to ensure they understand the conditions that apply to their activities.
Financial advice sector facing broader regulatory scrutiny
ASIC’s latest financial advice update highlights several areas where the regulator is intensifying scrutiny across the advice sector.
One key focus is the use of lead generation services by advice licensees. ASIC has launched a review examining how financial advisers acquire leads and whether these practices may expose consumers to inappropriate switching of superannuation products or other financial risks.
The regulator has also revisited SMSF establishment advice.
In a recent review of 100 client files, ASIC found advisers demonstrated compliance with best interests obligations in only 38 cases. In the remaining 62 files, advisers failed to demonstrate compliance, with significant concerns about client detriment identified in 27 matters.
Pulse Markets licence cancelled over sustained compliance failures
ASIC has cancelled the AFS licence of Queensland-based securities dealer Pulse Markets after identifying suspected serious and sustained breaches of its obligations. The cancellation took effect on 11 February 2026.
ASIC found Pulse Markets failed to adequately supervise its corporate authorised representatives, creating a heightened risk that they would breach financial services laws and expose clients to financial loss.
The regulator also identified suspected failures in due diligence when appointing representatives, insufficient monitoring of their marketing and websites, and inadequate compliance and breach registers.
Pulse Markets may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of the decision.
The cancellation highlights ASIC’s continued focus on licensee supervision obligations and the importance of maintaining adequate compliance systems and governance structures.
Digital assets regulation framed through existing financial law
A recent ASIC paper examining digital assets argues that emerging technologies should largely be regulated using existing financial regulatory frameworks.
The paper suggests that while crypto-assets, tokenisation and distributed ledger technology are often presented as disruptive innovations, they largely perform the same economic functions that financial systems have always served: capital allocation, payments and risk management.
From this perspective, the novelty lies primarily in the technology rather than in the underlying financial activity.
ASIC therefore emphasises the importance of technology-neutral regulation, where obligations are determined by the economic substance of a product rather than the technology used to deliver it.
This approach reflects long-standing principles within Australian financial services law, which define financial products by reference to their function rather than their form.
ASIC continues simplifying regulatory guidance
ASIC has withdrawn and updated several regulatory guides as part of an ongoing effort to simplify financial regulation and reduce unnecessary complexity for industry.
Two older guides have been withdrawn: Regulatory Guide 64, which addressed failures to lodge company documents, and Regulatory Guide 40, which dealt with transaction fee disclosure for deposit and payment products.
ASIC concluded that the information contained in those guides is now better covered through other regulatory resources and consumer information channels.
At the same time, the regulator has made minor and technical updates to Regulatory Guide 104 on AFS licensing obligations and Regulatory Guide 205 on credit licensing conduct obligations. These changes are intended to improve clarity and maintain accuracy rather than introduce new regulatory requirements.
The changes form part of ASIC’s broader program to review and streamline regulatory guidance across financial services.
The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and it is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. It is designed and intended as general information in summary form, current at the time of publication, for general informational purposes only. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any particular legal matters you or your organisation may have.
