Sarah Court
ASIC has published its supervisory priorities for 2026-27 for the banking, superannuation, general insurance, life insurance and financial markets sectors to provide greater transparency of priorities and give industry early visibility on planned activities.
This initiative responds directly to industry feedback and helps regulated entities prepare and allocate resources appropriately. ASIC has engaged with APRA and other regulators in deciding the activities included in the letters. Where there was overlap, those activities were recast or removed to avoid duplication or will be undertaken collaboratively.
ASIC Chair Sarah Court said, ‘ASIC is actively working to increase transparency, reduce unnecessary duplication and make regulatory processes easier to navigate while maintaining the quality and integrity of regulatory outcomes.
‘We have a clear mandate from government to support growth and productivity and a responsibility to ensure our actions strengthen the economy and do not unnecessarily slow it.
‘The supervisory letters form part of a broader Council of Financial Regulators workstream, jointly led by ASIC and APRA, to improve how regulators coordinate, collect and share data and respond to the Treasurer’s request for a Better Regulation Roadmap for the financial sector.
‘The letters provide sector-specific visibility of ASIC’s supervisory priorities and areas of focus. This greater level of transparency will help regulated entities plan and allocate resources with confidence.
‘We encourage boards and executives to carefully consider the issues highlighted in the letters so they can plan, allocate resources and focus attention accordingly,’ Ms Court said.
ASIC supervisory priorities for 2026–27
- Banking sector: ASIC will review the use of AI in customer-facing activities and will review lender conduct practices, such as incentives, referrer arrangements, and broker oversight. There will be an ongoing focus on banks getting the basics right and improving outcomes for those in financial difficulty. See ASIC Supervisory letter – Banking
- Superannuation sector: ASIC will continue its multi-year review of superannuation member services and begin new reviews on trustee oversight of advice fee deductions and retirement. See ASIC Supervisory letter – Superannuation
- General insurance sector: ASIC will review the practices of for-profit claims management firms (including those commonly referred to as ‘disaster chasers’) and the potential implications of some firms’ practices for consumers. See ASIC Supervisory letter – General insurance
- Life insurance sector: ASIC will review life insurance practices related to funeral insurance and continue its review into service issues in life insurance. See ASIC Supervisory letter – Life insurance
- Markets sector: ASIC will promote market integrity and responsible innovation through surveillance and public-private initiatives, assisted by industry engagement and intelligence. We will also reduce friction, support capital mobility, facilitate growth and competitiveness in Australia’s capital markets, and strengthen resilient market infrastructure. ASIC will continue to focus on confidence and fair outcomes across both public and private markets. See ASIC Supervisory letter – Markets
Background
Council of Financial Regulators (CFR)
The supervisory letters deliver a key commitment to provide regulated entities with annual, forward-looking visibility of supervisory focus areas under Stream 2 of the Council of Financial Regulators’ (CFR) Better Regulation Roadmap.
The CFR is the coordinating body for Australia’s main financial regulatory agencies, including ASIC, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Treasury.
Following the Economic Reform Roundtable, in September 2025, the Treasurer tasked the CFR Plus regulators to develop a Better Regulation Roadmap for the financial sector. The roadmap comprises a series of coordinated activities that the CFR Plus regulators are undertaking to support the Government’s better regulation agenda.
Regulatory Initiatives Grid
The supervisory letters complement the Regulatory Initiatives Grid (RIG), which sets out the financial services regulatory landscape across Government and regulators. The RIG gives industry visibility of major regulatory and policy reforms that affect the financial services sector.
ASIC and APRA have committed to working with Treasury to enhance the RIG over time, including by providing greater visibility of regulator coordination and thematic supervisory activity.