On 14 November 2024, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced its enforcement priorities for the year 2025. These priorities are designed to tackle financial misconduct, with a strong focus on protecting consumers from harm amidst increasing cost of living pressures and addressing unethical practices that undermine market integrity.
The enforcement strategy aims to combat misconduct that exploits superannuation savings, unscrupulous property investment schemes, and predatory lending practices. It includes addressing failures by insurers to act fairly, strengthening investigations into insider trading, and prosecuting unlawful debt management and collection activities. ASIC has also committed to targeting greenwashing and other misleading conduct related to environmental, social, and governance claims, while addressing service failures in the superannuation sector and ensuring that finance providers do not take advantage of vulnerable consumers, particularly in used car finance.
ASIC’s focus on systemic issues that pose risks to consumers and market integrity. The regulator’s priorities reflect its commitment to protect Australians from financial harm, ensuring businesses comply with regulations, and holding wrongdoers accountable. These measures aim to create a safer, more transparent financial system that serves the interests of all Australians.
Deputy Chair Sarah Court stressed the urgent need to protect financially vulnerable individuals. She stated that the 2025 enforcement priorities are designed to address significant risks, particularly in areas where businesses and individuals attempt to exploit consumers or circumvent regulatory protections.
The priorities for the coming year focus on addressing misconduct that exploits superannuation savings and targets Australians through unscrupulous property investment schemes. These schemes often involve deceptive practices intended to take advantage of individuals’ retirement funds or promote high-risk investments with misleading promises. Additionally, failures by insurers to act fairly and in good faith will be a significant area of focus, ensuring that consumers are not disadvantaged by unethical or unlawful practices.
ASIC is also intensifying its scrutiny of business models designed to avoid consumer credit protections, alongside increasing enforcement against unlawful debt management and collection activities. Misconduct impacting small businesses, which are crucial to the Australian economy, will be investigated and prosecuted, particularly where creditors are unfairly affected. Efforts to improve cybersecurity within licensed organisations are another critical priority, addressing failures that could expose consumers to breaches and fraud.
Another area is the regulator’s commitment to addressing greenwashing, particularly in cases involving misleading claims about environmental, social, and governance factors. ASIC will also target service failures within the superannuation sector that disadvantage members and ensure that auditors are held accountable for misconduct. In the used car finance market, the regulator is focusing on protecting vulnerable consumers who are often exposed to predatory lending practices by certain finance providers.
ASIC’s priorities also include strengthening investigations and prosecutions of insider trading to uphold the integrity of Australia’s financial markets. The creation of a specialised team dedicated to insider trading reflects the regulator’s commitment to tackling this complex area of financial crime.
The regulator has emphasised that its approach is not only about filing cases but also about achieving meaningful deterrence and promoting compliance across the financial system. The focus remains on misconduct that causes widespread harm, particularly for financially vulnerable individuals and First Nations communities. Enduring priorities, such as addressing market manipulation and governance failures, remain at the heart of ASIC’s enforcement strategy.
Sarah Court noted that while economic conditions and risks evolve, ASIC’s ultimate objective remains the protection of consumers and the promotion of integrity within Australia’s financial markets.
