On 22 September 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published an update on its work on Australia’s public and private markets.

The progress update relates to a discussion paper issued by ASIC earlier this year regarding Australia’s evolving capital markets. Following the publication of the discussion paper ASIC has met a wide range of industry representatives and these engagements have helped informed the progress update.

Private markets – REP 814

ASIC has also published Report 814 Private Credit in Australia (REP 814) following a review of Australia’s private credit funds sector. A key focus of REP 814 is to consider what good operating practices exist in the market and suggests areas where they can be improved for the benefit of the private credit market overall and its participants.

REP 814 has identified positive private credit practices that include:

  • regular reporting of fund composition;
  • independent loan valuations undertaken quarterly;
  • disclosure of:
  • whether credit ratings are internal or third party (if used);
  • the scale of mezzanine debt and equity holdings;
  • all manager fees and earnings (including any interest earned);
  • liquidity risk management and leverage; and
  • the fund’s leverage policy.
  • transparency of related-party or inter-fund transactions, along with independent review; and
  • consistency in the use of investment and real estate terminology.

REP 814 has also called out concerning practices that require action. These include:

  • remuneration and fee structures that are opaque and fail to quantify and make readily observable the true cost of managing the fund;
  • related-party transactions and governance arrangements, which need to adequately address fund managers lending to related parties, holding debt and equity in the same entity via the fund, or transferring investments between funds managed by the same manager;
  • valuation practices that determine the frequency, methodology, beneficiary and independence of valuation, and recognition of impairments;
  • liquidity and adequate disclosure about opportunity and process based on the type of fund (closed-end or open-end), as well as facilitation of liquidity and addressing the risk of liquidity mismatch;
  • investment reporting and mixed reporting across the market, leading to lack of visibility and investment exposure;
  • definitions and key terms, including the need for clear, concise and consistent use of terms such as ‘investment grade’, ‘security’, ‘loan to value ratio’ and ‘senior debt’; and
  • concentration and the risk of an unknown amount of debt or level of credit risk – particularly in real estate – as well as unknown levels of exposure, especially for retail investors.

ASIC expects meaningful action

ASIC warns that some of the poorer practices are potentially inconsistent with financial services law and ASIC guidance and as such it will not hesitate to use its regulatory and enforcement tools when it identifies misconduct. Also, the insights and observations ASIC has already gathered are informing its ongoing and planned surveillance activities.

As such ASIC encourages industry bodies to use the findings in REP 814 as an opportunity to review local and international standards and approaches, and to proactively enhance Australian industry standards in the private credit sector.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said:

‘While the report highlights some encouraging practices, it also reveals concerning behaviours that fall short of market expectations and more importantly that are inconsistent with existing financial services law. With the pace of growth in size and reach of the domestic sector, this becomes all the more important.

‘Promoting confident and informed market participation is a shared responsibility, including those already demonstrating and upholding high standards.

‘ASIC expects meaningful action in response to these findings and will not hesitate to intervene where progress falls short.’

Public markets

ASIC has received a range of ideas regarding disclosure, governance and other regulatory settings for listed public companies that are impacting the appeal of listing or remaining listed in Australia. Notwithstanding it has already made certain adjustments to improve the attractiveness of Australia’s listed equities markets and this includes changes to the IPO process. ASIC is also considering ideas regarding pre-prospectus advertising, prospectus length, trading plans and sell-side research.

Next steps

The update provides a summary of what ASIC will issue in November.

This includes the findings from ASIC’s private credit surveillance across retail and wholesale funds. Building on REP 814, this release will include two additional expert reports, along with ASIC’s responses to the surveillance findings, expert insights and stakeholder feedback.

In addition, ASIC states that it is currently collecting the responses to its consultation paper on conflicts management guidance. Its proposed updated Regulatory Guide 181 (25-150MR) contains new examples related to private market practices. ASIC expects to complete this update by the end of 2025.