ASIC strengthened consumer protection in 2025-26, delivering 150 administrative enforcement outcomes targeting misconduct across Australia’s financial, credit and corporate sectors.

Demonstrating the critical role administrative enforcement tools play in disrupting rogue operators and protecting consumers, investors and small businesses, between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, ASIC:

• removed or restricted 87 individuals and businesses from providing financial services
• removed or restricted 27 individuals and businesses from providing credit services
• disqualified 36 individuals from managing corporations

Overall, ASIC’s administrative enforcement activity remained strong in 2025–26, with financial services removals and restrictions reaching the highest level in the past five-years and director disqualifications rising sharply from the 2024-25 financial year.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court said Australian financial services licence cancellations and director disqualifications were among ASIC’s most efficient enforcement tools.

‘These administrative powers are critical levers that allow ASIC to act quickly and decisively to stop misconduct, protect consumers, investors and small businesses, and efficiently remove unsuitable operators from the market.

‘They can often be deployed more swiftly than or ahead of court action to help prevent further harm, drive behavioural change and strengthen trust and confidence in Australia’s financial and corporate markets.

‘Every banning order, licence cancellation and director disqualification removes a pathway for rogue operators to continue earning a living from misconduct. By removing high-risk participants from the market, we are disrupting misconduct at its source and making it harder for those who disregard the law to continue operating.’

ASIC’s latest data shows that 61% of financial services outcomes and 89% of credit-related outcomes resulted in permanent banning orders or licence cancellations with:

• 77 permanent bannings and cancellations from credit and financial services (31 individuals and 46 organisations)
• 6 banned for 10 years from credit and financial services
• 31 banned for less than 10 years
• 18 of the 36 director disqualifications were for the maximum period of five years available under the Corporations Act.

Some of ASIC’s most significant enforcement outcomes in 2025-26 included:

• Permanent ban – Abdullah Popal: ASIC permanently banned Mr Popal from providing financial services and engaging in credit activities following fraud convictions involving the dishonest transfer of almost $90,000 from former clients.
• Permanent ban – Barry King: ASIC permanently banned former financial adviser after finding he misappropriated client funds and provided false documents.
• Maximum director disqualification – Kylie Campbell: ASIC disqualified the former Victorian property development director from managing corporations for the maximum period of five years following the failure of companies that left substantial debts and losses to creditors.
• Shield and First Guardian Master Funds: ASIC has banned 15 advisers linked to the Shield Master Fund or the First Guardian Master Fund in the last financial year and taken further action against licensees, a director of a licensee and a responsible manager.

‘ASIC will continue to take decisive action against individuals and businesses that fail to meet their legal obligations,’ the Chair said.

‘Administrative enforcement outcomes are a powerful way to protect consumers and investors, deter misconduct and maintain confidence in Australia’s financial, credit and corporate markets.

‘If you misuse a position of trust, fail to meet your obligations or engage in misconduct, ASIC can and will act to remove you from the market.’

Background

¹Source: ASIC Annual Reports
²The categories are not mutually exclusive, and some individuals/businesses may appear in more than one category where multiple administrative actions have been taken.

Banning orders prohibit individuals from providing financial services or engaging in credit activities and are used where ASIC identifies serious misconduct or conduct demonstrating a person is not fit to participate in the industry.

Licence cancellations remove a business’s legal authority to provide financial services or credit activities and are used where an entity has failed to meet its obligations or no longer meets the standards required of a licensee.

Director disqualifications prevent individuals from managing corporations for up to five years and are commonly used where ASIC identifies repeated company failures, misconduct affecting creditors or employees, or conduct showing a person is unfit to manage a company. This provision is a key regulatory tool to deter director misconduct and allows for a timely and efficient enforcement outcome when compared to similar criminal and civil remedies. Any person who continues to be involved in the management of a company while disqualified commits an offence which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

ASIC has delivered one of its strongest enforcement periods on record, securing major penalties and driving tens of millions in payments back to Australians in the first half of 2026.

From January to June 2026, ASIC secured court orders totalling $480 million^# in civil penalties against major banks, super trustees, market participants and financial services firms, including Union Standard, HSBC, Westpac, Macquarie Securities, and Mercer Super.

Together with the $350 million ordered in the first half, ASIC’s civil penalties orders now total $830 million for the 2025-2026 financial year.

In connection with ASIC’s work, $644 million^* is being paid back to Australians, including more than $61 million announced in the first half of 2026, on top of the $583 million announced between June and December 2025.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court said, ‘Our enforcement work is focused on misconduct that causes real harm and we are delivering results, forcing change, strengthening accountability, and returning money to consumers and investors.

‘We are pursuing cases that expose serious failures in systems, governance and conduct, from scams and hardship failures to market infrastructure, superannuation, private credit, financial reporting, and digital assets.’

ASIC’s criminal enforcement program also continues to deliver, with recent court outcomes and investigations achieving significant jail sentences holding those who broke Australia’s financial services laws to account.

In May, former Sydney fund manager Rodney Forrest was resentenced by the Full Federal Court to five years and three months jail imprisonment for a $3 million insider trading scheme involving Platinum Asset Management shares. Former financial advisor Anthony Torre was sentenced in January to six years in prison for fraud involving the misappropriation of superannuation funds. Remedy Housing officials Brent Smith, Mahmoud Khodr, and Fue Mano were sentenced to lengthy prison in March for dishonesty offences.

Overall, there has been an uplift in ASIC’s criminal convictions and custodial sentences with 25 criminal convictions, of these 21 were custodial sentences, including 11 individuals sentenced to imprisonment.

ASIC’s enforcement and regulatory figures from July 2025 to June 2026 reveals:

• $830 million in civil penalties imposed by courts
• $643.5 million to be delivered back to tens of thousands of customers and investors as part of remediation, refunds, and payments in connection with ASIC’s work
• ASIC launched more than 250 investigations
• 25 criminal convictions comprised of 21 custodial sentences (including 11 individuals sentenced to imprisonment) and four were non-custodial sentences
• 32 new civil proceedings were filed, 18 new criminal prosecutions commenced, and 25 criminal convictions were recorded against individuals
• $12 million in infringement notices and $137,315 in criminal fines.

Some of the major civil penalties follow ASIC’s successful enforcement action against:

• Union Standard International Group was ordered to pay a record $300 million penalty for serious contracts for difference (CFD) misconduct and failures affecting retail investors
• HSBC Bank Australia admitted scam protection failures, with ASIC securing a $35 million penalty. Macquarie Securities was ordered to pay a $35 million penalty for systemic failures that led to the misreporting of millions of short sales and inaccurate market data.
• Westpac was ordered to pay a $26 million penalty for widespread failures in responding to customer hardship requests
• Walker Stores (Snaffle) was ordered to pay a $33.5 million penalty for unlawful credit practices that overcharged consumers almost $20 million in excess interest
• Mercer Super was ordered to pay $10.3 million in penalties for systemic reporting failures, including failing to report significant breaches to ASIC

In connection with its work, ASIC also:

• ASIC secured nearly $40 million in refunds to CFD investors
• Following ASIC’s investigation, HSBC has established a large-scale remediation program that, to date, has paid around $21.5 million in compensation, with further payments to come before the end of July 2026. HSBC has also recovered $6.5 million and returned those funds to customers.

‘ASIC has delivered record penalties and strong criminal outcomes, but enforcement is not just about punishment. It is about detecting misconduct sooner, preventing harm where we can, and securing remediation for those affected,’ the Chair said.

‘Our focus is on protecting investors, returning money where possible, and holding lawbreakers to account. Where we see serious harm or risks to market integrity, we will act quickly and use the full range of regulatory and enforcement tools available to us.’

Background

^#The figure of $480 million reflects civil penalties ordered by courts between 1 Jan 2026 and 30 June 2026. It does not include proposed or agreed civil penalties that remain subject to court approval in 2026.

^*The figure of $644 million reflects announcements in the reporting period in connection with ASIC’s work. Payments may occur before or after the reporting period and totals may be updated as programs progress.

ASIC Media Release outlining penalties secured:

• 26-136MR ASIC secures $10.3 million in penalties against Mercer Super for systemic reporting failures
• 26-126MR $35 million penalty sought as HSBC admits to scam protection failures, and implements compensation plan
• 26-117MR Federal Court orders record $300 million penalties in ASIC’s case over ‘egregious’ Union Standard and CFD operator misconduct
• 26-107MR Federal Court orders Westpac to pay $26 million penalty for hardship failures
• 26-099MR Federal Court orders $33.5 million penalty against Snaffle operator for inflating prices and overcharging on credit contracts
• 26-084MR Federal Court orders Money3 to pay $1.55 million penalty for responsible lending breaches
• 26-097MR ASIC appeals $7 million penalty in Cigno Australia, BSF Solutions, and directors’ case
• 26-068MR Electro Optic Systems Holdings ordered to pay $4 million penalty for continuous disclosure breaches
• 26-055MR Binance Australia Derivatives ordered to pay $10 million penalty for onboarding failures causing millions in client trading losses
• 26-050MR Supreme Court orders Macquarie Securities to pay $35 million penalty in short sale misreporting case

ASIC Media Releases outlining remediation back to customers

• 26-004MR ASIC secures nearly $40 million in refunds to investors and drives change after CFD sector falls short
• 26-127MR Federal Court orders $35 million penalty against HSBC for scam protection failures

Private credit practices, financial reporting misconduct, insurance complaints and claims handling, and misleading pricing are among a range of new enforcement priorities ASIC has unveiled for 2026.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said ASIC’s 2026 enforcement priorities have been designed to protect consumers from financial harm and uphold the integrity of Australia’s financial markets.

‘We are continuing to deliver strong, visible and active enforcement outcomes.

‘We’re doing more investigations, taking more matters to court and securing record penalties.

‘In the last 12 months, we’ve doubled the number of new investigations and nearly doubled the number of new matters filed in court.

‘We’ve also worked hard to increase our criminal prosecutions, and seen lengthy sentences imposed for financial fraud offences,’ the Deputy Chair said.

In 2026, ASIC’s new enforcement priorities are:

• Misleading pricing practices impacting cost of living for Australians
• Poor private credit practices
• Financial reporting misconduct including failure to lodge financial reports
• Claims and complaint handling failures by insurers
• Continuing our work to hold those responsible to account for the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds

Continuing enforcement priorities are:

• Strengthening investigation and prosecution of insider trading conduct
• Misconduct exploiting consumers facing financial difficulty including predatory credit practices
• Unlawful practices seeking to evade small business creditors
• Holding super trustees to account for member services failures
• Auditor misconduct

‘Our 2026 enforcement priorities reflect emerging risks like those in private credit, as well as the challenges Australians face while contending with higher living costs.

‘ASIC will zero in on misleading pricing practices in the financial services sector, particularly those that make everyday costs harder for Australians.

‘In line with our increased surveillance across private credit, we won’t hesitate to take enforcement action to stamp out misconduct in the sector so we can support confident and informed participation, investor protection and market integrity.

‘Reliable financial information remains more important than ever, particularly as entities with unlisted assets, such as super funds and private credit funds, play a bigger role in the economy. In 2026, we will step up enforcement action against financial reporting misconduct.

Alongside these priorities, more than 40 people are continuing to investigate the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds and, as one of ASIC’s largest and most complex cases ever, it has been elevated to a new, dedicated priority.

‘We have been focused on returning available money to investors and the next stage is holding those responsible to account for the Shield and First Guardian collapses’, the Deputy Chair said.

Key enforcement outcomes over the past year include:

• Proposing $240 million in combined penalties against ANZ which, if imposed by the court, would be the largest penalties ASIC has ever levelled against a single entity.
• Filing proceedings against Macquarie and accepting a court enforceable undertaking to repay $320 million to affected Shield Master Fund investors.
• Securing a 14-year prison sentence for West Australian fraudster Chris Marco; the highest sentence imposed by an Australian court in relation to an ASIC criminal investigation.

ASIC’s enforcement priorities for 2026 are designed to send a clear and effective signal to the market about where ASIC will focus its resources and expertise.

In addition to ASIC’s 2026 enforcement priorities, ASIC’s enduring priorities remain, including protecting First Nations and vulnerable consumers, upholding market integrity, acting against systemic failures, and ensuring a fair, strong, and efficient financial system for all Australians.

Background

ASIC’s goal is to help all Australians through promoting market integrity and consumer protection in the Australian financial system.

We take decisive and high-profile enforcement action to protect consumers, address misconduct, punish wrongdoers, and, importantly, reduce the risk of misconduct in the markets and sectors we regulate.

ASIC’s latest Enforcement and regulatory update shows 10,240 of the most common sites removed include 7,227 fake investment platform scams, 1,564 phishing scam hyperlinks and 1,257 cryptocurrency investment scams.

ASIC also commenced court action against HSBC Australia in December, alleging failures to adequately protect customers scammed out of millions of dollars. This action followed ASIC reports into the anti-scam practices of 15 banks outside the major four, that found there was significant room for improvement.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said since ASIC established its capability in 2023, the agency was helping shut down an average of 130 investment scam websites each week.

Ms Court said, ‘Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated technology to steal money from hard-working Australians with investment scams that can look shockingly legitimate.

‘This new data demonstrates that ASIC is making Australia safer by stamping out these scams before they reach Australians.’

‘ASIC will continue to protect Australians from scams by removing them before they reach consumers and holding financial institutions accountable for their scam detection and response practices.’

The report also highlights that in the last six months of 2024, ASIC increased its new investigations by 31%^[2] to 109 new investigations, commenced 15 new court actions, and completed 376 surveillances. The update also reports ASIC was successful in the majority of its civil and criminal prosecutions, securing $46.6 million in civil penalties and 13 criminal convictions.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said that the outcomes ASIC had achieved over the last six months highlighted that its organisational redesign and a refreshed executive team were having positive impacts.

‘The changes we have made mean ASIC is able to more efficiently process intelligence, leading to earlier commencement of investigations and surveillances,’ Mr Longo said.

‘We anticipate the increased number of investigations we have commenced will flow through to significant compliance, enforcement and consumer outcomes in the year ahead.

‘As outlined in our 2025 Enforcement Priorities, banks, insurance companies and superannuation trustees are on notice, and we are concerned by the inconsistencies and complacency we have observed.

‘Our focus on the superannuation sector was underscored recently with the Government’s announcement to raise the bar on customer service by introducing mandatory and enforceable service standards.

‘Using our full regulatory toolkit, we’ve focused on landmark cases and compliance action that deliver financial outcomes and protect consumers and investors,’ Mr Longo said.

High impact enforcement and compliance activity within the report includes:

• ASIC’s action against NAB for allegedly failing 345 customers who applied for hardship support (24-254MR)
• ASIC’s action against QBE Insurance for allegedly misleading customers about pricing discounts (24-234MR)
• ASIC’s action against Cbus trustee United Super alleging delays in processing death benefits and total and permanent disability insurance claims for more than 10,000 members and claimants (24-251MR)
• ASIC’s first-of-its-kind review of bank customers on low incomes who were charged high fees, and the response by banks who will refund over $28 million dollars to customers (24-153MR).

To protect investors, ASIC also commenced legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW alleging Regional Express Holdings Limited engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and contraventions of continuous disclosure obligations.

ASIC’s 2025 enforcement priorities will continue to reflect the increased cost-of-living pressures faced by consumers and aim to prevent financial harm.

More information

• REPORT 804 ASIC enforcement and regulatory update: July to December 2024
• ASIC’s 2025 enforcement priorities
• Summary of enforcement outcomes
• Regulatory developments timetable

———

Notes:
[1] Since ASIC established the capability in July 2023
[2] Compared to the prior corresponding period: 2H 2023

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, ‘Our 2025 enforcement priorities reflect the increased risks consumers are facing that are being driven by cost of living pressures. These priorities are about protecting Australians from financial harm and targeting the people who try to take advantage of them.

‘We will focus on business models that are designed to avoid consumer credit protections, and we will take action against those engaging in unlawful debt management and collection. We will also target conduct that exploits superannuation savings, with a particular focus on unscrupulous property investment schemes.

‘ASIC will continue to fiercely uphold the integrity of Australia’s financial markets, and to support this, we have established a new dedicated team to target insider trading.’

In 2025, ASIC’s enforcement priorities will focus on:

• Misconduct exploiting superannuation savings
• Unscrupulous property investment schemes
• Failures by insurers to deal fairly and in good faith with customers
• Strengthening investigation and prosecution of insider trading
• Business models designed to avoid consumer credit protections
• Misconduct impacting small businesses and their creditors
• Debt management and collection misconduct
• Licensee failures to have adequate cyber-security protections
• Greenwashing and misleading conduct involving ESG claims
• Member services failures in the superannuation sector
• Auditor misconduct
• Used car finance sold to vulnerable consumers by finance providers

Last year, ASIC increased its new investigations by 25% on the previous year. ASIC also increased new civil proceedings by 23% and had important enforcement outcomes across areas from greenwashing to crypto, predatory lending, high-cost credit and insider trading.

‘We have more matters before criminal courts around the country than we do before civil courts, and it requires intensive efforts by ASIC investigators to continue each of those cases.

‘However, numbers only tell one part of the story. Numbers don’t capture the full impact of the enforcement actions filed including the resulting compliance and deterrence we achieve, particularly in relation to consumer and investor protections and changing industry behaviour,’ Ms Court said.

ASIC’s enforcement priorities reflect emerging issues and risks the agency prioritises to detect, investigate and prosecute unlawful conduct affecting consumers, businesses and the economy.

While ASIC’s strategic targets change from year to year, in keeping with shifting economic factors and the volatile risk environment, its enduring priorities remain the same.

ASIC’s enduring priorities target:

• Misconduct damaging market integrity including insider trading, continuous disclosure breaches and market manipulation
• Misconduct impacting First Nations people
• Misconduct involving a high risk of significant consumer harm
• particularly conduct targeting financially vulnerable consumers
• Systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions
• resulting in widespread consumer harm
• New or emerging conduct risks within the financial system
• Governance and directors’ duties failures

Background

ASIC’s goal is to help all Australians through promoting market integrity and consumer protection in the Australian financial system. We take decisive and high-profile enforcement action to protect consumers, address misconduct, punish wrongdoers, and, importantly, reduce the risk of misconduct in the markets and sectors we regulate.