ASIC is concerned that many Australians may not have the information they need to make confident and informed decisions about retirement after a review identified a lack of urgency in improving retirement communications among superannuation trustees collectively responsible for millions of members.

ASIC’s review, Report 818 From superficial to super engaged: Better practices for trustee retirement communications (REP 818), found some trustees offer one-size fits all retirement communications aimed primarily at pre-retirees, missing opportunities to engage with members throughout retirement and provide more meaningful support.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said, ‘Over 1.5 million members are in the retirement phase now, collectively holding approximately $575 billion in superannuation assets, and more than 2.5 million Australians will enter retirement over the coming decade.

‘However, ASIC’s Moneysmart research suggests only one-third of Australians on the cusp of retirement are confident that they will be financially comfortable once they leave the workforce. It is important now more than ever for superannuation trustees to focus their attention on providing meaningful, and timely retirement communications to their members that can meet their needs.

‘Moreover, members entering retirement typically hold larger balances, require more tailored solutions and expect high-touch support. Trustees that can meet these needs stand to unlock powerful commercial outcomes: stronger member retention, deeper engagement, and scalable growth.’

ASIC’s review also found little evidence of trustees tailoring their messaging and delivery methods to meet the diverse needs and preferences of their member base, including those already in the retirement phase.

Commissioner Constant said despite the retirement income covenant (covenant) obligations commencing over three years ago on 1 July 2022, some trustees are yet to address gaps identified by ASIC and APRA (24-143MR).

‘The clear message we are sending to super trustees is a one size fits all communications approach won’t work for all member groups as it may not provide the quality of information customers need to make confident and informed decisions about retirement,’ she said.

‘Trustees have developed significantly fewer communications targeted at retired members. Most of these targeted communications were more relevant to members in the lead up to, or in early stages of retirement, which given the size of the retirement wave already breaking, is a real missed opportunity.

‘It was disappointing to see the retirement communications practices of participating trustees largely overlooked the specific needs of First Nations members, vulnerable members and culturally and linguistically diverse members. None of the trustees we reviewed developed specific retirement communications for vulnerable members.’

Commissioner Constant said effective data and research capabilities were critical in producing meaningful insights for driving strong member engagement, and removing barriers for vulnerable groups.

‘Some trustees demonstrated how individual retirement communications were tailored to some of these groups and others demonstrated innovative approaches to member engagement, like offering webinars, in-person seminars, TV programs, and radio and social media content,’ she said.

‘However, we saw little evidence of wider processes in place to identify vulnerable groups and adequately support them with tailored retirement communications.’

Commissioner Constant said it was concerning that one third of trustees did not have a formal process that considered member feedback.

‘Super trustees cannot understand member needs if they do not have processes in place for identifying specific challenges faced by diverse groups, particularly the most vulnerable among us,’ she said.

‘Ultimately, our review found that trustees with robust governance, strong data and research capabilities and effective benchmarking are delivering better communications, and in turn supporting better retirement outcomes for their customers.’

ASIC is urging trustees to carefully consider the calls to action and better practice case studies outlined in this report to identify and address blind spots in their retirement communications.

Calls to action for trustees include:

• focus on informing members about retirement, rather than prioritising product promotion and member retention
• develop retirement communications that are better tailored to member needs, using meaningful member groups and nudges
• better tailor retirement communications to the diverse needs and preferences of member groups approaching, and in retirement
• ensure retirement communications are accessible to culturally and linguistically diverse members and members with a disability
• adequately resource governance structures to execute the retirement income strategy and communications strategy, with appropriate oversight by executive and management-level staff, and
• strengthen oversight of external service providers that develop and deliver retirement communications to ensure the communications meet quality, compliance and strategic expectations.

ASIC is committed to working alongside APRA to hold superannuation trustees to account for compliance with their covenant obligations, including by publishing results from the latest joint Retirement ‘Pulse Check’ later this year.

ASIC’s Moneysmart has conducted extensive consumer research with the pre-retiree segment that found there was a need to demystify complex financial concepts, and provide practical, actionable guidance. That was particularly the case for First Nations, vulnerable and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Based on consumer feedback, Moneysmart has updated its content pages to assist First Nations communities with actionable guidance on retirement and insurance, and will continue to build out new content to meet consumer needs.

Downloads

• Report 818 From superficial to super engaged: Better practices for trustee retirement communications
• Report 784 Industry Update: Pulse check on retirement income covenant implementation

Background

This review represents the next phase of ASIC’s oversight of Australia’s retirement system, following the implementation of the retirement income covenant on 1 July 2022.

ASIC examined how various Registrable Superannuation Entity licensees (trustees) have been progressing with implementation of the retirement income covenant, with a focus on how the trustees are communicating to their members about retirement in the lead up to, and through retirement.

ASIC’s report provides detailed observations of good and poor practices from 12 participants since the covenant came into effect to 11 December 2024.

The trustees reviewed are collectively responsible for more than 9.3 million superannuation member accounts and $1.14 trillion in member assets. Collectively, they represent 45% per cent of APRA-regulated funds by member assets (see: Quarterly Fund-Level Statistics | APRA).

 Participating trustees included:

• Australian Meat Industry Superannuation Pty Ltd
• Aware Super Pty Ltd
• Brighter Super Trustee
• BT Funds Management Ltd
• Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation
• H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd
• Host-Plus Pty Limited
• Legal Super Pty Ltd
• Nulis Nominees (Australia) Limited
• Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Limited
• UniSuper Limited
• Vanguard Super Pty Ltd

ASIC has announced the appointment of a new Chair, Deputy Chair, and three new members to the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP), and thanks five retiring members for their significant contribution.

The MDP is a peer review panel that determines, on ASIC’s behalf, whether infringement notices should be issued for alleged breaches of the market integrity rules by market participants.

Its members bring extensive market and professional experience, with many holding senior roles within the industry.

This depth of expertise enables the panel to address matters efficiently and effectively.

Appointment of new Chair and Deputy Chair

Victoria Weekes has been appointed Chair of the MDP following the retirement of Simon Gray from the MDP after fifteen years of service, including nine as Chair.

Ms Weekes has over 30 years’ executive experience in the financial services industry and has served as a member of the MDP for 14 years, including several years as Deputy Chair. She is also an Independent Director at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

Anthony Brittain, Executive Director and Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Euroz Hartleys, has been appointed Deputy Chair.

ASIC welcomes the following new members to the MDP:

• Annette Spencer (General Counsel at Barrenjoey Capital Partners)
• Sebastien Bonvalet-Nicolle (former Head of Listed Derivatives and Clearing for Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank), and
• Andrew Couper (Head of Markets Compliance at Regal Partners and former Head of Compliance at Credit Suisse).

ASIC thanks the following retiring members for their dedicated service:

• Simon Gray
• Anne Brown
• Ian Chambers
• Geoff Louw, and
• Dan Ritchie.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said, ‘We welcome the new MDP members and congratulate Ms Weekes and Mr Brittain on their appointments as Chair and Deputy Chair.

‘On behalf of ASIC, I extend our sincere thanks to the retiring members for their service and the significant contributions they have made.

‘We are especially grateful to Simon Gray for his dedicated leadership and governance as Chair of the MDP over the last nine years.

‘The MDP plays a vital role in ensuring fair and effective financial markets for all Australians.

‘The considerable depth and breadth of expertise of the panel will ensure the continued success in upholding market integrity.’

Background

ASIC refers alleged contraventions of the market integrity rules by market participants to the MDP, where it is considered an infringement notice is the most appropriate regulatory response, as an alternative to civil penalty proceedings.

Sitting panels of the MDP then independently make decisions about whether a matter results in an infringement notice. Outcomes are recorded on the MDP Outcomes Register.

An infringement notice may specify one or more of the following:

1. a financial penalty of up to $4.95 million per alleged contravention
2. any remedial measures that the market participant must undertake
3. sanctions that the market participant must accept, and/or
4. the terms of an enforceable undertaking that the market participant must enter into.

Regulatory Guide 216 Markets Disciplinary Panel (RG 216) explains the disciplinary framework for the market integrity rules, the function of the MDP, and the policies that the MDP will take into account when making decisions about alleged contraventions of the market integrity rules.

ASIC established the MDP to make decisions about alleged contraventions of the market integrity rules when it took over responsibility for market supervision in August 2010.

Following a spike in reports of stolen shares due to identity theft and an industry review, ASIC has updated guidance for Australian financial services (AFS) licensees about how they can reduce share sale fraud risks to their clients and business.

Share sale fraud is the fraudulent activity of a person who is not who they claim to be, selling or transferring shares that do not belong to them.

It can have devastating financial and emotional impacts on the lives of people who fall victim.

The updated Information Sheet 237 Protecting against share sale fraud (INFO 237) includes observations on share sale fraud methods by bad actors and better practices for licensee prevention and detection.

The updates reflect findings from a recent ASIC-led industry review into AFS licensees’ client onboarding and verification practices, in addition to their share sale fraud detection practices.

AFS licensees that deal in securities have a critical role in preventing and detecting share sale fraud, both individually and collectively.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said, ‘In the last four years, ASIC analysis has identified a seven-fold increase in the number of share sale fraud reports made by market intermediaries.

‘There are terrible stories out there, where in some cases entire investment portfolios are lost, and millions of dollars are involved.

‘There is a tremendous emotional and financial impact for investors who fall victim.

‘We’re calling on market intermediaries to step up and protect their customers by strengthening their share sale fraud prevention, detection and response practices.

‘Share sale fraud can happen to anyone, at any time, with unsuspecting investors having their accounts hacked, and shares sold or transferred to others.

‘Vigilance is key as share sale fraud is often difficult to detect.

‘Investors should review their share portfolios regularly, be alert to suspicious transaction activity, turn on multi-factor authentication, and use passphrases, not passwords for your logins.’

AFS licensee better practices for fraud prevention and detection are outlined in the updated INFO 237, and include:

• being alert to possible use of stock images, fakes, forgeries, and independently verifying their authenticity when onboarding new clients

• monitoring trading behaviour and conducting additional due diligence where trading is unusual for a client, a client makes large withdrawal requests or newly opened accounts are observed, and

• conducting further due diligence when clients add or request changes to personal information such as postal/email addresses and bank accounts, including, where possible, checking that bank accounts are held in the client’s name.

Background

For further guidance on anti-scam practices, we also encourage AFS licensees to consider:

• ASIC’s Report 761 Scam prevention, detection and response by the four major banks (REP 761)
• ASIC’s Report 790 Anti-scam practices of banks outside the four major banks (REP 790), and
• the use of digital ID services accredited under the Digital ID Act 2024 to safely and securely verify people’s identity online. For more information, see https://www.digitalidsystem.gov.au/.

ASIC has done significant recent work to help protect consumers from fraud and scams:

• Between 2021 and 2023, ASIC reviewed the banks – and what measures they had to protect their customers from scams (REP 761) and (REP 790).
• In 2024 and early 2025, ASIC looked at the superannuation industry. In January 2025, ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant wrote to superannuation trustees urging them to strengthen their anti-scam practices (ASIC calls out superannuation trustees for weak scam and fraud practices).
• Now, ASIC is supporting continued action and a co-ordinated response from market intermediaries including stockbrokers, following ASIC’s fraud surveillance work last year.

ASIC recommends for investors to:

• Review your share portfolios regularly, regardless of whether they are issuer-sponsored holdings registered with share registries or held in share trading accounts with stockbrokers, so you’re quicker to detect unauthorised activity.
• Be on the lookout for suspicious activity when it comes to your share registry, share trading and bank accounts.
• Use passphrases rather than simple passwords for online accounts.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication – if it’s available – as this can add an extra layer of security to protect your identity.
• Lock your letterbox to prevent mail theft and check it frequently.

If you believe you’ve been targeted in a share sale fraud, immediate action is crucial:

• Report the suspected suspicious activity to your market intermediary (i.e., online broker) and/or share registry.
• Report your incident to the Australian Federal Police using their Report Cyber portal, and specify you’re a victim of share sale fraud in your report.
• Also report the incident to the Australian Government’s Scamwatch website.
• Contact IDCARE, a free government-funded service, which can help you develop a specific response plan if your identity has been compromised.

Where to go for more information

• See ASIC’s Moneysmart website for a range of tips to protect yourself from identity theft.
• You can also find further information on the Government’s IDMatch website.

Downloads

• Share sale fraud case study

This case study is based on incidents reported to ASIC in 2024. Any resemblance to any person(s) is purely coincidental.

ASIC welcomes the new Australian financial market infrastructure (FMI) laws, which introduce new powers essential to ensuring a stable and efficient Australian financial system.

Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) are the key entities that enable, facilitate, and support trading in Australia’s capital markets. FMIs include financial market operators, benchmark administrators, clearing and settlement (CS) facilities, and derivative trade repositories.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 strengthens the existing regulatory regime, ensuring ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) (together, the Regulators) have strong and dependable powers to monitor, manage and respond to risks related to FMIs.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said: ‘The new laws ensure we have a fit-for-purpose regulatory regime for critical financial market infrastructure. The reforms significantly enhance ASIC’s regulatory toolkit for FMIs, clarify the scope of the Australian licensing regime for overseas markets and CS facilities, and empower us to make rules to promote the fair and effective provision of services by licensed CS facilities. Collectively, these new powers help ASIC ensure the Australian financial system is supported by resilient, efficient, and stable FMIs.

‘We are reviewing our approach to the regulation and supervision of FMIs to ensure that we make the most effective and efficient use of our expanded powers. We will work closely with the RBA and industry to develop and provide information and guidance on the use of our new powers across this multi-year program of change.’

ASIC will now plan and implement the new FMI regulatory regime and update its website with further publications and information, including the development of updated regulatory guidance to assist industry to comply with the enhanced regulatory framework for FMIs.

Background

The Australian Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (Cth) into the Australian Parliament on 27 March 2024.

The Bill implements the Financial Market Infrastructure Regulatory Reforms: Advice to Government from the Council of Financial Regulators, July 2020 which made sixteen recommendations to Government.

The Bill will:

• introduce a crisis management and resolution regime
• enhance ASIC and the RBA’s licensing, supervisory and enforcement powers, which will provide ASIC with more capacity to monitor the ongoing conduct of FMI entities, identify risks as they emerge, and take appropriate action to prevent those risks from escalating, and
• streamline and transfer roles and responsibilities between the Minister, ASIC and the RBA.

The Bill passed Parliament on 9 September 2024 and received Royal Assent on 17 September 2024.

Downloads

• Financial Market Infrastructure Regulatory Reforms – Advice to Government from the Council of Financial Regulators, July 2020
• Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024