Background

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released its Enforcement and Regulatory Update Report 812, outlining its ongoing focus on consumer and retail investor protection. The reports provide data and analysis from January to June 2025, highlighting key trends in misconduct, enforcement actions, and regulatory priorities.

Key ASIC Initiatives in 2025

Some of ASIC’s key initiatives so far in 2025 include:

  1. ASIC’s first discussion paper Australia’s evolving capital markets: A discussion paper on the dynamics between public and private markets;
  1. ASIC’s Inquiry into the ASX group, led by an expert panel focusing on governance, capability and risk management frameworks and practices across the group; and
  1. ASIC’s action against Choosi for allegedly making false representations to customers, claiming it compared products from a range of funeral and life insurers.

2025 Enforcement Priorities

Moving forward, ASIC has foreshadowed its 2025 enforcement priorities:

  1. Misconduct involving superannuation savings;
  1. Unscrupulous property investment schemes;
  1. Failures by insurers to deal fairly and in good with customers;
  1. Strengthening investigation and prosecution of insider training;
  1. Business models designed to avoid consumer credit protections;
  1. Misconduct impacting small businesses and their credits;
  1. Debt management and collection misconduct;
  1. Licensee failures to have adequate cyber-security protections;
  1. Greenwashing and misleading conduct involving environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) claims;
  1. Member services failures in the superannuation sector;
  1. Auditor misconduct; and
  1. Used car finance sold to vulnerable consumers by finance providers