The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has outlined its enforcement priorities for 2025, emphasising a robust approach to breach self-reporting and targeting a range of misconducts across various sectors. This strategic focus aims to enhance market integrity, protect consumers, and ensure fair practices within the financial services industry.
ASIC’s enforcement priorities for 2025 include a strong focus on misconduct exploiting superannuation savings. This involves scrutinising schemes that misuse superannuation funds, ensuring that these savings are protected and used appropriately. Additionally, ASIC will target unscrupulous property investment schemes that deceive investors and fail to deliver promised returns.
Insurers are also under the spotlight, with ASIC emphasising the need for fair and good faith dealings with customers. This includes addressing failures by insurers to meet their obligations and ensuring that customers are treated fairly in all interactions. Strengthening the investigation and prosecution of insider trading is another key priority, aiming to uphold market integrity and prevent unfair advantages.
Business models designed to circumvent consumer credit protections will be closely monitored. ASIC aims to ensure that all business practices comply with consumer credit laws and do not exploit loopholes to the detriment of consumers. Misconduct impacting small businesses and their creditors is also a priority, with ASIC focusing on protecting the interests of small businesses and ensuring fair treatment by creditors.
Debt management and collection practices will be scrutinised to prevent misconduct and protect consumers from unfair practices. Licensee failures to have adequate cyber-security protections are another critical area, as ASIC aims to ensure that financial institutions have robust measures in place to protect against cyber threats.
Greenwashing and misleading conduct involving Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) claims will be targeted to ensure that companies accurately represent their ESG practices and do not mislead investors. Member services failures in the superannuation sector will also be addressed, ensuring that superannuation funds provide the services promised to their members.
Auditor misconduct is another area of focus, with ASIC aiming to uphold the integrity of financial reporting and ensure that auditors adhere to professional standards. Additionally, ASIC will target the sale of used car finance to vulnerable consumers by finance providers, ensuring that these consumers are not exploited.
In addition to these specific priorities, ASIC has confirmed its enduring priorities, which include targeting misconduct that damages market integrity, such as insider trading, continuous disclosure breaches, and market manipulation. Misconduct impacting First Nations people and conduct involving a high risk of significant consumer harm, particularly targeting financially vulnerable consumers, will also remain a focus.
Systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions resulting in widespread consumer harm will be addressed, as well as new or emerging conduct risks within the financial system. Governance and directors’ duties failures will also be targeted to ensure that corporate governance standards are upheld.
ASIC’s comprehensive enforcement strategy for 2025 reflects its commitment to protecting consumers, maintaining market integrity, and ensuring fair practices within the financial services industry. By focusing on these key areas, ASIC aims to create a more transparent, fair, and secure financial environment for all stakeholders.
GRC Essentials can help
If you require any assistance, we can offer training for your personnel or a review of your compliance documents. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or if we can help you with any of your compliance matters.
You may reach out to us via our website at grcessential.com.au in our “Contact Us – Get in touch” section and submit your inquiries, or you can send us an email at support@grcessentials.com.au. We are happy to respond to you as soon as possible.