Prime Super Pty Ltd (Prime Super) has paid $18,780 to comply with an infringement notice issued by ASIC in which ASIC alleged that Prime Super as the Trustee of the Prime Super Superannuation Fund (Fund) made misleading statements about the Fund’s investments.

Between 16 October 2023 and 11 June 2025, Prime Super publicly stated in its 2023 annual report that manufacturers of tobacco products were ‘excluded entirely’ from the Fund.

However, during the same period, the Fund indirectly invested in companies involved with tobacco manufacturing.

The trustee for the HESTA superfund, H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd (HESTA), has paid $37,560 to comply with two infringement notices issued by ASIC for misleading statements.

ASIC alleged HESTA made misleading statements in paid advertisements about its commitment to removing carbon emissions investment.

Between 15 April 2021 to 18 December 2024, HESTA placed paid advertisements on the Google and Bing search platforms which stated, ‘HESTA is committed to remove all investment in carbon emissions by 2050….’

The advertisement was linked to the ‘Why Join’ page on the HESTA website.

ASIC was concerned that the advertisements represented that HESTA planned to remove all investment in carbon emissions by 2050 when that was not HESTA’s plan. Instead, HESTA’s target was to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its investment portfolio by 2050 which is different to removing all investments in carbon as net zero can be achieved through offsetting.

ASIC’s Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, ‘In making the representations, HESTA overstated its commitment to reducing investment in carbon emissions.’

‘Consumers relying on HESTA’s representation may have been denied the opportunity to make informed decisions about their preferred superannuation provider when HESTA gave a false impression that its commitment to reducing carbon emissions was more ambitious than it actually was.’

HESTA reported the incident to ASIC.

ASIC’s newly released REP 824 Review of SMSF establishment advice contains 8 action points for advisers and 4 action points for licensees to improve their practices when it comes to SMSF establishment advice. ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said financial advisers who recommend that clients establish SMSFs without properly considering whether it is suitable for their objectives, financial situation, and needs were placing clients’ future at risk rather than helping them take control of it.

ASIC has released its roadmap to promote strong, efficient, and globally competitive capital markets in Australia, Advancing Australia’s evolving capital markets (REP 823). Illustrating ASIC’s desire to be “backers, not blockers”, the report sets out clear principles, grounded in the law, for private markets to lift practices to foster confident and informed participation by investors and borrowers. In his related address, ASIC Chair Joe Longo said to support market innovation, it intends to review and re-launch its Innovation Hub.

The transcripts of ASIC Chair Joe Longo’s National Press Club address and Q&A session are available to view on ASIC’s website.

Open for opportunity: Taking charge of the future of our financial markets

Keynote address by ASIC Chair Joe Longo at the National Press Club, Canberra on 5 November 2025.

Key points

• Capital markets are evolving and technology will accelerate these changes.
• Australia faces a choice – to innovate or stagnate. ASIC wants to be a backer, not a blocker of innovation and supports public and private collaboration.
• We must act now to put in place the foundations and the guardrails for the markets we want in the future – and this includes regulatory and law change.

.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has launched a new dashboard for Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) statistics.

The Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) statistics dashboard presents key statistics on data breach notifications received by the OAIC under the NDB scheme since the scheme’s commencement in February 2018. The dashboard provides an interactive presentation of this data and will be updated twice-yearly. It has been created to help reporting entities and stakeholders understand the volume of data breaches reported to the OAIC, the number of people affected, causes and sectoral trends.

Data used in this dashboard have been produced and processed from information self-reported by entities under the NDB scheme.

The dashboard contains new statistics for January to June 2025. These show the OAIC was notified of 532 data breaches during the period, a 10% decrease compared with the previous six months.

Malicious or criminal attacks remained the largest source of data breaches (59%, at 308 notifications). The health sector continues to have the most reported data breaches (18% of reported data breaches), followed by the finance sector (14%) and Australian Government agencies (13%).

Labor’s legislation to require employers to pay their employees’ super at the same time as their salary and wages has passed Parliament. From 1 July 2026, employers will be required to deposit their employees’ super into accounts within seven business days of payday. This will strengthen Australia’s superannuation system and help deliver a more secure retirement to more Australian workers, with employees set to benefit from more frequent and earlier super contributions that will grow and compound over their working life.

ASIC is aware Cboe Global Markets (Cboe) has made the decision to sell its Australian and Canadian markets businesses, Cboe Australia and Cboe Canada, as part of a global strategic realignment focused on its core derivatives business.

ASIC also notes that Cboe has reaffirmed that these businesses have consistently performed well, are well-positioned for future growth, and have benefited from a supportive regulatory environment that fosters competition. Cboe has also committed to ensuring a successful transition.

Promoting competitive, resilient, and effective capital markets remains a key priority for ASIC. ASIC approved Cboe Australia’s listing application on 7 October 2025 (25-227MR).

ASIC will work closely with Cboe throughout the sale process to promote an orderly transition of Cboe Australia to a suitable buyer.

Competition has brought innovation, resilience, greater liquidity, and lower costs to Australia’s securities markets – benefiting investors, companies, and the broader economy. ASIC considers that Cboe has played a critical role in delivering these outcomes.

ASIC has today released findings from its financial reporting and audit surveillances for the 12 months to 30 June 2025.

Report 819 ASIC’s oversight of financial reporting and audit 2024–25 (REP 819) outlines:

• findings from company financial reporting and audit surveillances
• enforcement and compliance actions against registered company auditors
• outcomes relating to company financial reports, and
• observations on auditor reporting and on voluntary sustainability reporting to assist preparers of mandatory sustainability reports.

ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke said: ‘Accurate, accessible and reliable financial information is essential for business and markets to work well. All participants in our economy rely on those preparing financial information to do so carefully and fairly, and those auditing that information to do so with skill, professionalism and independence.’

Reliable financial information remains more important than ever, particularly as entities with unlisted assets, such as superannuation funds and private credit funds, play a bigger role in the economy. There is also a growing focus placed on newer types of information, such as disclosures on climate and sustainability, in economic decision-making.

ASIC reviewed 254 company financial reports, conducted 22 surveillances and reviewed 10 audit files at eight audit firms.

As a result of the review:

• 18 entities made or agreed to make changes relating to 19 areas of concern in their financial reports including:

• • Bell Group Holdings Pty Limited making a restatement to consolidate a controlled subsidiary which was previously incorrectly accounted for as an associate, and
  • Energy World Corporation Limited impairing its assets by a total of US$793.8 million.

• we had audit and other findings in nine audit surveillances at eight audit firms and notified both the auditor and company of those findings in order to drive improved practices.

Australians can now access data about reported breaches of the law by Australian financial services licensees and credit licensees through a new ASIC dashboard.

The Reportable Situations (RS) dashboard, which contains granular information about licensees’ self-reported breaches, aims to support improvements to customer outcomes, and uplift in the compliance and reporting practices of licensees across the financial services and credit space.

The public dashboard will provide insights and trends relating to:

• volume and nature of breaches
• customer impact and loss
• investigation and rectification of breaches, and
• customer compensation and remediation.

Climate-related financial disclosures: the AASB has released educational materials on applying AASB Standard 2 regarding compulsory climate-related financial disclosures.

AUSTRAC has issued Cryptolink an infringement notice of $56,340 and accepted a court-enforceable undertaking that addresses the company’s AML/CTF deficiencies.

The action follows AUSTRAC’s Crypto Taskforce identifying late reporting of large cash transactions and weaknesses in the company’s money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessments.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the package of infringement notices and the enforceable undertaking is designed to ensure useable intelligence does not slip through the cracks.

“The infringement notice addresses previous non-compliance around reporting and the enforceable undertaking seeks assurance that Cryptolink has improved its risk assessments and strengthened its AML/CTF controls,” Mr Thomas said.

“Crypto ATMs are one of the highest risk money laundering channels in Australia at the moment.

“They are being exploited by criminals to launder money and move scam proceeds.

“This is not conjecture. It’s what our Crypto Taskforce observed and has been backed up by the work of our law enforcement partners.”

As part of the enforceable undertaking, Cryptolink must engage third party reviewers to:

• validate whether the business has reported all required threshold transactions to AUSTRAC
• assess whether the business has implemented effective controls for large cash transactions
• review Cryptolink’s money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.

Cryptolink has fully cooperated with AUSTRAC and paid the infringement notice in full. Payment of an AUSTRAC infringement notice is not an admission of liability.

The enforcement action comes after intensive engagement with crypto ATM operators since late 2024.

Working in partnership with law enforcement, AUSTRAC’s Crypto Taskforce estimated that 85% of transactions made by the 90 most prolific crypto ATM users were the proceeds of scams and money mule activity.

“Scams are one of the biggest drivers of suspicious activity and criminals have been using crypto ATMs to move and cash out stolen funds,” said Mr Thomas.

A recently released Australian Institute of Criminology report found more than 40% of cybercrime victims are revictimized, often within months.

“With this in mind we want people to be cautious of making transactions to any wallet they don’t control and thinking twice in circumstances where someone asks you to deposit money into a crypto ATM.”

The second stage of the Crypto Taskforce is focussed on high-risk operations.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has commenced a second round of consultation on modifications to its capital framework for longevity products, including annuities. The changes are designed to create an environment that supports the development and availability of longevity products for Australian retirees, while safeguarding policyholder interests.

In June 2025, APRA released a consultation inviting industry feedback on proposed changes to the life insurance capital framework. The responses have informed refinement of the proposals, including a shift towards a more principles-based approach for determining capital requirements.

The updated proposals align with APRA’s commitment to regulatory balance, which means to promote financial system safety and stability in an efficient way. The initiative aims to support a resilient and innovative insurance sector by facilitating the growth and competitive pricing of longevity products.

APRA’s response to industry feedback and updated proposals is provided in a paper available on the APRA website at: Adjustments to the capital settings for longevity products.

Industry feedback on draft prudential standards is invited by 17 December 2025.

Additional information on this consultation, including draft standards and non-confidential submissions, can be found on the consultation page.

ASIC has banned Brendan Rodwell, a former director of Australian financial services licensee Crown Wealth Group Pty Ltd, from performing any function involved in carrying on a financial services business, and from controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business, for two years.

ASIC had reason to believe that Mr Rodwell, of Newcastle, is not adequately trained or competent to perform functions in, or control, a financial services business after failing to adequately address fees for no service (FFNS) conduct by Lighthouse Partners, one of Crown Wealth’s representatives. In particular, ASIC found that Mr Rodwell, as a director of Crown Wealth:

• failed to take proactive steps to ensure Crown Wealth complied with its obligation to report the FFNS conduct to ASIC as a reportable situation within 30 days after becoming aware of it. Crown Wealth did not lodge a reportable situation with ASIC until six months after becoming aware of the FFNS conduct
• did not take adequate steps to confirm that the FFNS conduct was properly investigated and affected clients were properly remediated
• took a misguided approach that he could remain within his perceived operational responsibilities (which did not involve direct client contact or the provision of financial advice) rather than involve himself in the compliance and reporting obligations of Crown Wealth, and that his inaction and inattentiveness to these obligations was a serious lapse in judgment, and
• demonstrated a lack of professionalism and competence, and a failure to act with the diligence expected of a director of a financial services licensee.

ASIC was satisfied that Mr Rodwell’s conduct was the result of carelessness and inadvertence rather than a deliberate course of action to conceal or disregard the FFNS conduct.

Treasury invites feedback on the Payment Systems Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2025 (the draft Regulations) and Explanatory Statement.

They support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payments System Modernisation) Act 2025 which recently passed parliament.

The draft Regulations amend the:

• Payments Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission Regulations 2001
• Corporations Regulations 2001.

The Government seeks views from interested parties by Tuesday 11 November.

Stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenised securities and digital asset wallets are among the digital asset products that ASIC considers to be financial products in its updated INFO 225: Digital Assets: Financial Products and Services. ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said ASIC’s guidance provided the regulatory clarity that firms have been calling for to innovate confidently in Australia. In recognition that firms will need time to consider the updated guidance and potentially apply for licences, ASIC has granted a sector-wide no-action position until 30 June 2026.

Treasury invites feedback on Regulations which support the Payments System Modernisation Act that recently passed parliament. The Act empowers the Financial Services Minister to designate payment systems in the national interest, with the consequence that any entity indirectly connected with a payment system could be captured under the redefinition of ‘participant’ and become subject to nominated regulator oversight. This phase complements consultation on the next phase of payments reforms and exposure draft legislation on digital asset platform reforms.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland has reminded financial services firms that when customers are front and centre, good outcomes often follow. Speaking at the Institute of Internal Auditors Australia Financial Services & ASX Listed Assurance Forum, he reminded attendees that this concept was in many respects enshrined in industry law and that ASIC’s related work to improve consumer outcomes was currently focused on financial hardship, credit and debt, better banking outcomes, and dispute resolution.