[World Corporate Law News] ASIC Announces Transformational Package to Safeguard Australia’s Financial Markets

Editorial Team – [2025] 181 taxmann.com 816 (Article)

World Corporate Law News provides a weekly snapshot of corporate law developments from around the globe. Here’s a glimpse of the key corporate law update this week.

1. Securities Law

1.1 ASIC Announces Transformational Package to Safeguard Australia’s Financial Markets in Response to ASX Inquiry Interim Report

On December 15, 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) obtained commitments from ASX Group on a package of reforms, including:

(a) Strengthening the independence and governance of ASX’s Clearing and Settlement Facilities Boards

(b) A strategic reset of ASX’s transformation program ‘Accelerate’, with clear milestones and accountability for delivery

(c) The imposition of an additional $150 million capital charge on ASX Limited to ensure ASX maintains strong financial resources until remediation is complete.

(d) A commitment to stronger leadership

In addition, ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will step up their review to uplift their joint supervisory model.

The package is intended to strengthen confidence in ASX and Australia’s critical market infrastructure, provide certainty about the market operator’s reset, and respond to the panel’s Interim Report released today.

The inquiry, announced in June 2025 and led by an expert panel, has identified shortcomings in ASX’s governance, capability, risk management and culture that require urgent attention and response. Due to the urgency of the necessary reset, the Report’s insights were shared with ASIC, which then engaged with ASX.

The report concludes that, while some progress has been made, continuing with the same approach is not an option. The scale of transformation required is significant and cannot be achieved through current tactical, incremental measures or business as usual practices.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo stated that urgent action was needed to set ASX on the right path.

‘ASX needs to embrace a new era of accountability, investment, and stewardship to increase confidence, and meet the expectations of the market and the Australian public.

‘This package is a circuit-breaker.

‘Many of the problems the report identifies took years to develop, and while there are some immediate actions that will be put in place, the key issues are going to take time and resources to resolve. There are no quick fixes or shortcuts.

‘This reset is about addressing underlying issues, and laying the foundations for a resilient, world-class market operator.

‘This should be a clear signal to the market that ASX are committed to delivering the transformation necessary for resilient and future-ready national market infrastructure.’

Source – Official Announcement

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