Continuing Professional Development

The Federal Court has ordered Cigno Australia and its director Mark Swanepoel and BSF Solutions and its director Brenton Harrison to pay a combined penalty of $7 million for engaging in credit activity without a licence and charging prohibited fees.

Cigno Australia was ordered to pay $3 million, its director Mr Swanepoel $500,000, BSF Solutions $3 million, and its director Mr Harrison $500,000.

The penalty orders follow the findings of the Federal Court on 24 May 2024 of breaches of the Credit Act by Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions through their use of the No Upfront Charge Loan Model and involvement in those breaches by Mr Swanepoel and Mr Harrison (24-111MR).

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, ‘ASIC has taken regulatory and enforcement action over many years to respond to various business models used by entities connected to Cigno Australia, BSF Solutions, Mr Swanepoel and Mr Harrison. ASIC believes their No Upfront Charge Loan Model was designed to sidestep consumer protections laws and put consumers at risk.

‘From July 2022 to May 2024, Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions charged consumers more than $90 million in fees.

‘Today’s outcome demonstrates ASIC’s commitment to protecting Australians from predatory lending practices and holding individuals and companies accountable for their actions.’

In delivering his judgment, Justice Jackman said, ’ASIC submits, and I accept, that the respondents’ decision to operate that model denied consumers important protections under the Credit Act and Credit Code. In relation to the No Upfront Charge Loan Model, those protections included limits on the fees and charges that can be imposed for the provision of credit.’

Alexander John McCulloch, a former project manager at Beacon Minerals Limited (Beacon Minerals), pleaded guilty yesterday to one rolled-up count of insider trading (amended to include two trades). One count of insider trading was discontinued.

In January 2017 Mr McCulloch procured two associates, Christopher Allan Gall and Thomas James Collins, to acquire 11 million shares in Beacon Minerals while he was in possession of inside information.

At the time, Mr McCulloch was responsible for managing the gold exploration drilling program for Beacon’s Jaurdi Gold Project.

Mr McCulloch previously pleaded not guilty to two charges of insider trading, and the matter was provisionally listed for trial from 9-20 November 2026.

Mr McCulloch will now appear for a sentence hearing on 23 September 2026.

This matter is being prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following a referral from ASIC.

AUSTRAC has raised concerns about alarmingly low suspicious matter reporting (SMR) on the part of the wealth management sector. The findings follow a supervisory campaign in which AUSTRAC found that 98 per cent of wealth management businesses did not submit a single SMR in 2025, despite operating in a sector that is directly exposed to a wide range of money laundering risks including high-value transactions, complex ownership structures, and client profiles that can obscure the true source of wealth.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the numbers indicate that many businesses may not have adequate systems or processes in place to meet their reporting obligations, nor to properly identify high-risk customers. The finding is not a technical compliance curiosity — it points to a fundamental failure of risk culture. AML/CTF laws require reporting entities to detect and report suspicious matters as a core obligation. A sector in which 98 per cent of businesses report nothing, across an entire calendar year, is a sector that is either not looking, or not seeing, or not reporting what it sees.

The wealth management sector’s SMR silence is particularly significant given the expanded AML/CTF obligations that came into force in 2025. AUSTRAC’s supervisory campaign signals that the regulator is actively testing whether firms are meeting those obligations in practice — not just on paper. For wealth managers, superannuation trustees, and investment managers, this is a clear signal that supervisory attention is intensifying. SMR frameworks, customer risk assessment processes, and transaction monitoring systems should all be reviewed in light of this finding.

AUSTRAC has acknowledged the decisive action Australia’s banks have taken to disrupt the financial flows underpinning the illicit tobacco trade, strengthening oversight to more effectively cut off criminal cash flows.

ASIC has today launched a new range of free and independent tools and resources on the widely trusted Moneysmart website to help Australians to plan for their retirement.

This comes in response to national research showing that around half of Australians approaching retirement worry they could run out of money, yet many want to learn more to build confidence about their future.

With around 2.5 million Australians expected to retire over the next decade, ASIC has made it a priority to understand their needs and provide tools and resources to help them to make good and confident decisions.

The national research shows that:

• 48% of Australians (aged 50 to 66) are worried they will run out of money in retirement.
• nearly a third (32%) feel they are already behind in preparing for retirement.
• only 18% have a clear retirement plan in place.

In response, ASIC has developed a consumer awareness campaign which directs Australians to the new Moneysmart Retirement Hub where they will find practical tools, calculators and guidance to support their retirement planning.

A key feature of the Hub is the Retirement Planner which allows Australians to:

• see how much income they could have in retirement from their superannuation, the Age Pension and other income sources.
• understand whether they may be on track for the retirement they want.
• explore how different scenarios could affect their income over time.

The planning tool brings together key sources of retirement income in one place, including superannuation, to help Australians answer the key questions many are asking, such as: Will I have enough money? Am I on the right track? and What can I do next?

The Retirement Hub also provides a range of other tools and resources including calculators to understand superannuation balances, Age Pension eligibility and retirement income options.

Richard Evans (formerly Evertz), the former chief executive officer (CEO) of collapsed ASX-listed technology company Big Un Limited (Big Un), has pleaded guilty to one charge of communicating inside information in the Sydney District Court.

Mr Evans communicated inside information about Big Un to a shareholder around 10 January 2017, when he ought reasonably to have known the shareholder would be likely to trade Big Un shares and options.

The inside information concerned the number of customers who had been onboarded to purchase Big Un’s promotional ‘TV Show’ package at a cost of $12,000, together with a $20 million funding arrangement with ‘Finstro’, a product of Sydney-based financier First Class Capital, which allowed customers to make this purchase on deferred payment terms.

The trial has been vacated with a sentencing hearing set down for 21 August 2026.

The matter is being prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following a referral from ASIC.

Since 2009, 46 people have been criminally convicted of insider trading following ASIC investigations, including senior executives and company chairs.

ASIC has banned former financial adviser Rhys James Rolls Reilly from providing financial services for 10 years and has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Conexus Group Pty Ltd (Conexus) until 31 July 2026.

ASIC found that Mr Reilly engaged in serious misconduct, including accepting conflicted remuneration, making false or misleading statements to clients, failing to act in clients’ best interests, and prioritising his own interests over those of clients.

ASIC also found that Mr Reilly was not a fit and proper person, was not competent to provide financial services, and was likely to contravene financial services laws in the future.

As a result, ASIC made a banning order prohibiting Mr Reilly for a period of 10 years from providing any financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business.

The misconduct primarily related to advice recommending investments in the First Guardian Master Fund (First Guardian), including advice to roll over significant superannuation balances into this product. ASIC found that Mr Reilly failed to properly investigate the suitability of this investment for certain clients and exposed certain clients to unacceptable levels of risk.

ASIC found that Mr Reilly accepted $100,000 in payments that constituted conflicted remuneration and failed to disclose those payments to clients, while recommending that clients invest most, or all, of their superannuation into First Guardian. ASIC also found that Mr Reilly made false or misleading representations in certain Statements of Advice by stating that no benefits capable of influencing his advice had been received, when that was not the case.

ASIC also found that Mr Reilly was not a fit and proper person and failed to oversee financial advisers operating under Reilly Financial’s authorisation who were advising clients to invest in the Shield Master Fund (Shield) and First Guardian.

ASIC has also suspended the AFS licence of Conexus.

Former financial adviser Shane Monte Silva has been banned from the financial services industry for five years after ASIC found he failed to act in certain clients’ best interests when recommending they switch their superannuation funds to invest in schemes including the Shield Master Fund (Shield) and the First Guardian Master Fund (First Guardian).

Between July and August 2023, while an authorised representative of Financial Services Group Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (FSGA), Mr Monte Silva provided advice to five clients to switch superannuation funds and invest in specific managed investment schemes, including Shield and First Guardian.

In a review of the advice provided by Mr Monte Silva, ASIC found that an adviser of his experience should have been aware that he was not acting in the client’s best interests by providing them with a Statement of Advice (SOA) in his or another adviser’s name, containing material misleading information, that recommended they roll over their entire superannuation savings into one or more high risk products, particularly in circumstances where the fact find had been carried out by an unlicensed third party referrer, where the SOA had been prepared by a paraplanner, and where he was only meeting the client for the first time during a phone call between the client and third party referrer.

The banning order took effect from 11 December 2025.

ASIC has remade a legislative instrument which exempts securitisation entities from holding an Australian financial services (AFS) licence.

ASIC Corporations (Securitisation Special Purpose Vehicles) Instrument 2026/175 (ASIC Instrument 2026/175) continues the relief provided under ASIC Corporations (Securitisation Special Purpose Vehicles) Instrument 2016/272 (ASIC Instrument 2016/272).

We have determined that the instrument is operating effectively and continues to form a useful part of the legislative framework.

ASIC will also make minor amendments to Regulatory Guide 167 AFS licensing: Discretionary powers (RG 167) for consistency and clarity.

On 3 March 2026, ASIC made orders permanently banning Yanhua (Scott) Chen from:

1. providing any financial service
2. controlling, whether alone or in concert with one or more other entities, an entity that carries on a financial services business, and
3. performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business (including as an officer, manager, employee, contractor or in some other capacity).

ASIC found that Mr Chen is not a fit and proper person and his conduct shows that he does not have the necessary judgement and character to operate in the financial services industry.

In making the banning order, ASIC had regard to Mr Chen’s conduct in receiving $490,000 from a client to invest in certain stocks but instead he misused these funds to conduct trading on his own account at a loss. Mr Chen breached the trust placed in him by his client and led her to believe the money had not been lost.

The Federal Court has ordered defence, space and communications systems manufacturer Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited (EOS) to pay a $4 million penalty for breaching continuous disclosure requirements.

Based on the Facts and Admissions agreed by the parties, the Court found that EOS failed to disclose a materially significant downgrade to its 2022 revenue forecast to the market for approximately 14 weeks.

Between May and June 2022, EOS advised the ASX that it expected its 2022 revenue to equal or exceed $212.3 million. By 25 July 2022, EOS became aware that its revenue was likely to be approximately $164 million, with a possibility of an additional $27 million.

Despite this, EOS did not explicitly correct its guidance until 31 October 2022.

The Court made declarations that EOS contravened s 674A(2) of the Corporations Act on 25 July 2022 and, by virtue of 1317QA, on each subsequent day until 31 October 2022 and ordered EOS to pay a pecuniary penalty of $4 million and ASIC’s costs as agreed or taxed.

Following consultation on a full package of draft Tranche 1 legislation covering definitions of regulated payment functions, licensing obligations, and a new prudential framework among other matters, industry awaits design of a new regulatory framework for payment service providers.

Australia’s new merger control regime is working as expected and the ACCC is meeting its commitments on decision timelines, according to data from its first three months of operation.

Between 1 January 2026, when the new regime commenced, to 31 March, the ACCC received 50 merger notifications and 108 waiver applications. This does not include the 13 notifications received during the transitional period between 1 July and 31 December 2025 when voluntary notifications became available.

Notifications and waivers received as at 31 March 2026

The ACCC has approved 39 notifications in phase 1, and two notifications were progressed to phase 2 for a more in-depth assessment.

Under the new regime it is mandatory for businesses to notify the ACCC of any proposed acquisition that meets notification thresholds set by the Minister. Businesses must wait for ACCC approval before they can proceed with a notifiable acquisition.

The average time taken for the ACCC to approve a notification in phase 1 was 18 business days.

Waivers, a streamlined process for simpler acquisitions that clearly do not raise material competition concerns, were decided on average in 11 business days. The ACCC granted 70 notification waivers and six were not granted. Acquisitions not granted a waiver need to be formally notified to the ACCC before proceeding, if they meet the thresholds.

ASIC is removing record numbers of harmful social media phishing and investment scam websites, as it warns Australians that artificial intelligence (AI) is super-charging online scam threats.

New data shows between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025, ASIC coordinated the removal of 11,964 phishing and investment scam websites – a 90% increase in takedowns compared to the previous 12-month period when 6,270 were removed.

On average, this is 32 websites per day, or 230 per week.

More than 25,000 investment scam and phishing websites have been knocked out since ASIC launched its takedown service in 2023.

ASIC also took down more than 1,100 online investment scam advertisements on social media in 2025.

ASIC warns consumers to watch out for scammers increasingly using AI in social media advertisements to lure them into providing their personal details.

Commissioner Alan Kirkland said scammers sometimes hide content that is against the terms and services of social media platforms, by using ‘cloaking’ to display different content depending on the consumers’ device or location.

The scams attempt to leverage the public’s increasing interest in AI and create misleading and unrealistic claims about the opportunity to make money quickly and easily.

The Albanese Government is releasing three consultation papers on broad cross‑sector reforms to give consumers greater protection and trust in the superannuation and financial services sectors.

The collapses of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds, which impacted over 11,000 consumers and more than $1 billion of superannuation funds, have highlighted the need for a comprehensive reform package which responds to the ecosystem of alleged misconduct surrounding these failures.

This includes protecting consumers as they are navigating the superannuation system, tackling high‑pressure sales tactics like lead generation and ensuring the sustainability of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort.

Options for protecting superannuation members include strengthening superannuation trustee governance standards, creating a safer framework for superannuation switching, restricting or placing greater protections on advice‑fee deductions from superannuation, and requiring Platform trustees to compensate members for certain investment failures on their platforms using trustee capital.

The consultation on lead generation looks at ways to make lead generators more accountable, strengthening the rules around unsolicited selling including an option to ban unlicensed communication to consumers about superannuation, addressing conflicted payment structures that may incentivise misconduct, and disrupting harmful advertising through earlier regulatory intervention.

The paper on the CSLR focuses on options to improve the predictability and structure of funding arrangements, better align the scheme as a mechanism of last resort, and enhance recoveries.

These consultation papers will be released for a 6‑week consultation period concluding by 22 May 2026 and I encourage consumers and industry to provide their feedback. They are available on the Treasury website.

We have already consulted on enhancing oversight and governance of Managed Investment Schemes earlier this year, and on enhancing professional indemnity insurance in responding to compensation claims.

I will convene a second CSLR and consumer protection roundtable in the coming weeks, to hear directly from stakeholders on the reform options.

The Albanese Government will consider the outcomes of these consultations and progress a series of targeted, proportionate reforms which appropriately balance consumer protection, the risk of future collapses and the right of individuals to exercise choice in the superannuation system.

ASIC and the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) will host a series of free in-person workshops to help companies prepare for the new mandatory sustainability reporting requirements.

The joint workshops are designed to provide a practical starting point for smaller and mid-size companies at the beginning of their sustainability reporting journey, particularly those preparing to commence reporting for financial years commencing on or after 1 July 2026.

Employees, directors, shareholders, creditors and owners and operators of small-to-medium businesses seeking to enhance their understanding of the foundational concepts around sustainability reporting are strongly encouraged to attend the workshops.

This follows ASIC’s recent release of e-learning modules on the core concepts underpinning the sustainability reporting requirements.

The workshops complement the e-learning modules by providing participants the opportunity to network and share practical insights about the modules with peers at a similar stage in their transition to sustainability reporting.

The workshops will feature expert-led presentations, discussions and practical activities to help participants apply key concepts with confidence. Participants will learn about:

• the basics of climate science
• climate-related physical risks
• climate-related transition risks, and
• climate-related opportunities.

Workshops will be held in May across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and will be delivered by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

AUSTRAC has directed payment platform, MHITS Limited, to appoint an external auditor to assess whether it is meeting its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) obligations.

The appointment follows further supervisory work in relation to last year’s payment platforms campaign, where AUSTRAC directed WorldRemit and Airwallex to appoint an auditor and issued letters of concern to four other payment platforms, asking them to address serious deficiencies identified during the campaign.

AUSTRAC also sent a letter putting the entire sector on notice to fix serious compliance failures, particularly when it comes to managing the risks of customers using payment businesses to send funds offshore to purchase child sexual exploitation material.

AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer, Brendan Thomas, said AUSTRAC expects businesses to be actively managing their AML/CTF obligations.

“Our supervisory campaign found payments that are high risk for child sexual exploitation were flowing through online payment platforms, but many businesses were failing to identify and manage the risks, report SMRs or exit high‑risk customers despite the clear warning signs,” Mr Thomas said.

“Strong risk management and compliance systems and timely reporting of suspicious matters are essential to disrupting criminal activities and that is what we expect to see in this sector.”

“As a payment platform that facilitates the transfer of funds to multiple jurisdictions, AUSTRAC is concerned that MHITS Limited transaction monitoring program is not attuned to the full range of risks it faces.”

The auditor must report their findings to AUSTRAC within 180 days of appointment. The scope of the audit is determined by AUSTRAC and will be conducted at MHITS Limited expense.

The outcomes of the audit will assist MHITS Limited to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations and inform AUSTRAC whether any further regulatory action is required.

“I have a simple message for businesses operating in the cross-border payments space: you are on the frontline when it comes to moving funds linked to these horrific crimes, and your actions matter.”

“Don’t wait for us to knock on your door to get your house in order. You must be able to identify and manage these risks – and that may also mean stopping transactions or the customers trying to make them.

“While some business have work do, we’re seeing a marked increase in SMRs across the payment platforms sector.

“In fact, reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have increased by 264%.

“That means people involved in this appalling criminal activity are far more likely to be detected. The likelihood of investigation has increased exponentially.”

View a copy(external link) of the notice issued to MHITS Limited.

ASIC has remade a legislative instrument that provides exemptions for low-risk non-cash payment facilities from different aspects of the financial services licensing regime in the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act).

ASIC Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2026/167 (ASIC Instrument 2026/167) extends the relief previously provided by ASIC Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211 until April 2031.

ASIC assessed that the instrument was operating effectively and efficiently and continued to form a necessary and useful part of the legislative framework. We will revisit the need for this instrument once the payments licensing reforms take effect.

ASIC continues to make it easier for customers to meet their obligations, with around 70% of ASIC’s paper‑based lodgements now enabled for submission by email following the latest release.

Our website has a complete list of forms that can be lodged by email.

Building on earlier updates, 30 additional forms are now available for email lodgement from 31 March, further reducing reliance on postal submission by approximately 13,000 paper lodgements each year.

This follows the forms enabled in 2025. Collectively, this brings the total to 88 forms now available for email lodgement, covering a broad range of interactions including:

• company notifications
• foreign company updates
• auditor appointments and consents
• credit licence updates
• debenture holder notifications, and
• other regulatory lodgements.

Email lodgement provides a simpler and more convenient way to submit these forms, while postal lodgement remains available where preferred.

What this means for customers

Customers can choose to lodge eligible forms by email, offering faster turnaround times supported by reduced manual handling.

Notably, certain forms related to foreign companies can now be lodged by email for the first time.

This release marks another practical step in ASIC’s simplification agenda, reducing administrative burden while helping to modernise how interactions with ASIC are managed.

More information

• Regulatory simplification
• ASIC slashes red tape and calls for further regulatory simplification proposals