The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors. ASIC, which reports to the

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, was established on 1 July 1998 following recommendations from the Wallis Inquiry.

Areas of responsibility

ASIC's authority and scope are determined by the ''Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001''. ASIC's areas of responsibility include: *corporate governance *financial services *securities and derivatives *insurance *consumer protection *financial literacy ASIC's consumer websit
www.moneysmart.gov.au
was launched on 15 March 2011. MoneySmart replaced ASIC's two previous consumer websites, FIDO and Understanding Money. MoneySmart aims to help people make good financial decisions by providing free, independent and unbiased information, tools and resources. ASIC is responsible for the administering the following legislation: * '' Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001'' (ASIC Act) * '' Business Names Registration Act 2011'' * ''

Corporations Act 2001 The ''Corporations Act 2001'' is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which sets out the laws dealing with business entities in Australia. The company is the Act's primary focus, but other entities, such as partnerships and managed invest ...

'' (Corporations Act) * '' Insurance Contracts Act 1984'' * '' National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009'' (National Credit Act) Additionally, ASIC is also responsible for administering parts of the following legislation: * ''

Banking Act 1959 A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...

'' * ''

Life Insurance Act 1995 Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respons ...

'' * ''

Medical Indemnity (Prudential Supervision and Product Standards) Act 2003 Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practi ...

'' * '' Retirement Savings Accounts Act 1997'' * '' Superannuation (Resolution of Complaints) Act 1993'' * ''

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 is an Australian labour law statute that regulates superannuation in Australia Superannuation in Australia, or "super", is a savings system for workplace pensions in retirement. It involves ...

'' (SIS Act).

Registers

ASIC maintains Australia's

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

and

business name Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

registers, which can be searched online. The types of organisations that can be searched online include companies, registered bodies, foreign companies, associations,

managed investment scheme An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

s and non-registered entities. The information that is available includes current and/or historical information about the organisation, including past addresses, previous directors, and former names, as well as the organisation's unique identification number (ABN, ACN, ARBN, ARSN), type of company or organisation (e.g., proprietary company, limited by shares), date it was registered, the next review date, location of registered office (town or suburb only), and any professional licences or registrations (e.g. an Australian financial services licence or credit licence).

History

ASIC was originally formed as the Australian Securities Commission (ASC), established on 1 January 1991 by the (then) ASC Act 1989. The purpose of ASC was to unify corporate regulators around Australia by replacing the National Companies and Securities Commission and the Corporate Affairs offices of the states and territories. The corporate regulator became the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on 1 July 1998, when it also became responsible for

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

in superannuation, insurance and deposit taking. It has since gained further responsibilities: in 2002 for credit, the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as, ...

in 2009, and Chi-X in 2011.

Criticisms

In 2012, ASIC called for powers to use data which had been intercepted by other intelligence agencies. In recent times ASIC has become the subject of criticism by consumers, consumer advocates and public officials over its inaction and inefficiencies in protecting consumers from large financial institutions. In 2015–2016 ASIC was subject to a class action claim of negligence by persons affected by the

Storm Financial Storm Financial Limited was a financial advice company, based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The company was founded by Emmanuel Cassimatis and his wife Julie Cassimatis as a private company initially with the name Cassimatis Securities Pt ...

collapse for an alleged failure to take action, amounting to malfeasance. However, Justice Gleeson of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

struck out the statement of claim of the plaintiffs as being unarguable. ASIC has not acted against the

Financial Ombudsman Service (Australia) The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was a member-funded Australian ombudsman service that provided external dispute resolution for consumers who were unable to resolve complaints with member financial services organisations. The Financial Ombud ...

(FOS) despite the organisation being exposed as having generated misleading file notes and then attempting to offer them in the discovery phase in a Victorian Supreme Court case. FOS were caught out and exposed by a consumer and ASIC has not acted against FOS. ASIC did commence proceedings against the largest four banks in Australia in 2016 for rigging of Australian benchmark interest rates. However criticism has been leveled against the regulator for failing to take action for over five years. Questions remain about how this will affect consumer civil causes of action against banks involved, given that the statute of limitations tends to be six years in Australia. In 2016, ASIC became the subject of heavy criticism in the debate concerning the creation of a Royal Commission into banking and financial services.

References

External links

Australian Securities and Investments Commission

MoneySmart
– the consumer website of Australian Securities and Investments Commission * Government agencies established in 1998 1998 establishments in Australia Securities and exchange commissions

Securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...