ASIC Plans to Be Easier to Deal with, but Harder to Avoid

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has published its 2026-27 Corporate Plan, setting out how it intends to be “easier to deal with” for businesses that comply with the law and “harder to avoid” for those who do not.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court explained that rapid technological change, evolving markets, and continued pressure on households and small businesses are reshaping the financial system. “Strong regulation and economic growth are not opposing objectives,” she argued. “ASIC’s role is to act at the right time, address the right risks and create the conditions for Australians, businesses and markets to have confidence in the financial system.”

ASIC’s enduring enforcement priorities include addressing governance and directors’ duties failures, systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions, and misconduct that damages market integrity. The regulator aims to deter future misconduct and “promote a culture of compliance across the Australian financial system and the corporate sector more generally.”

The plan also signals a significant focus on the risks and opportunities presented by AI. ASIC will examine how banks use AI in customer-facing services and how AI-driven manipulation, deepfakes, and misinformation could affect market integrity. “AI can improve services, productivity and decision-making, but its use must not weaken accountability or consumer and investor protections,” Court said. “ASIC will examine how AI affects consumers, respond to its potential misuse in markets and build our own capability to identify misconduct earlier and act more decisively.”

To achieve its objectives, ASIC will employ a dual approach. For responsible businesses, the regulator has committed to reducing unnecessary regulatory burden through simpler guidance, more efficient licensing processes, and better coordination with other regulators on data collection. At the same time, it will continue to utilize risk-based supervision, including enhanced scrutiny of financial institutions that have the greatest potential to impact consumers. 

ASIC is also investing in its own data, intelligence, AI, and cyber capabilities. The regulator plans to modernize how it triages reports of misconduct, embed new intelligence capabilities into regulatory workflows, expand responsible use of generative AI, and strengthen its ability to detect technology-enabled misconduct.

“This plan is about confidence,” Court said. “Confidence that financial harm will be addressed, confidence the rules are clear and proportionate, and confidence misconduct will have consequences.”