Courses for Financial Markets Professionals

Alexander John McCulloch, a former project manager at Beacon Minerals Limited, has been convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for insider trading, to be released forthwith on a recognisance of $5,000 and to be of good behaviour for 2 years.

View the full media release.

New ASIC data released today highlights the important role reports from the public play in helping ASIC identify misconduct, emerging risks and scams across Australia’s financial system.

Between 1 January and 30 June 2026, ASIC received 9,807 ‘Reports of Misconduct’ with retail investor issues and governance matters continuing to dominate reports received by ASIC, which together account for over four in five of all reports.

View the full media release.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed licence conditions on ING Bank Australia Limited (ING Australia) and will require it to hold additional capital and liquidity in response to material breaches of the bank’s minimum liquidity requirements.

ING Australia notified APRA in July that it had identified material miscalculations of its liquidity position over several years, resulting in significant overstatement of its Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR).

Although the bank was reporting LCR outcomes of around 160 per cent, its true LCR was substantially lower and at times dropped below the minimum LCR requirement of 100 per cent mandated by Prudential Standard APS 210 Liquidity. ING Australia has since taken steps to raise its liquidity position to well above APRA’s minimum requirements.

While APRA views ING Australia to be financially resilient, its breaches of liquidity prudential requirements are serious.

In response, APRA has imposed licence conditions requiring ING Australia to commission independent reviews into the causes of its liquidity reporting failures and broader risk management and governance practices, develop a comprehensive remediation plan to address weaknesses identified, and provide independent assurance that those remediation actions have been effectively implemented and embedded.

APRA has also increased ING Australia’s minimum liquidity requirements to ensure it is operating prudently while it addresses the underlying drivers of its liquidity reporting failure. Further, APRA has imposed a $50 million operational risk capital add-on to address heightened operational risk and potential broader weaknesses in its prudential reporting.

The capital add-on, increased liquidity requirement and licence conditions will remain in place until ING Australia has completed the required work to APRA’s satisfaction.

APRA Deputy Chair Therese McCarthy Hockey said: “ING Australia is one of Australia’s largest banks with more than 2 million customers nationwide and assets of over $100 billion. As such, APRA expects it to have robust governance and internal controls to support its financial and operational resilience.

“Although the bank remains well capitalised, and benefits from the financial strength of the broader ING group, these breaches are not simply a reporting error. When a bank cannot accurately measure one of its most important financial safeguards, it raises fundamental questions about the effectiveness of its risk management and controls. APRA is therefore acting decisively to ensure ING rectifies these weaknesses expediently,” Ms McCarthy Hockey said.

The Federal Court has imposed a penalty of $3.5 million against Venture 5 Group Pty Ltd (trading as CashnGo) regarding its use of, and reliance on, unfair contract terms in more than 47,000 standard form small amount credit contracts with consumers.

View the full media release.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) confirms that OnePath Custodians Pty Limited (OPC) has fulfilled all obligations under its Court Enforceable Undertaking (CEU) and concluded the undertaking.

OPC is one of four superannuation trustees in the Insignia Financial Group and has approximately 365,000 members and over $39 billion in funds under management.

APRA accepted the CEU in July 2024 after OPC pledged to rectify compliance deficiencies and compensate affected members for failing to direct default member contributions to a MySuper product. OPC has since undertaken a comprehensive program to identify affected members, rectify the deficiencies and has made all reasonable endeavours to provide remediation where required.

As part of the CEU, OPC also committed to hold $40 million as an overlay of existing Operational Risk Financial Requirement assets. APRA has today lifted this overlay.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said the conclusion of the CEU reflected OPC’s work to address concerns and demonstrated APRA’s balanced approach to supervision: holding entities to account, while acknowledging genuine remediation and uplift.

“Superannuation trustees play a critical role in protecting Australians’ retirement savings. Where trustees fall short, the consequences can directly affect members. APRA expects issues to be rectified swiftly and thoroughly.

“As one of Australia’s largest retail superannuation groups, Insignia is expected to lead with strong governance, risk oversight and robust controls evidencing a clear focus on members’ best interests,” Mr Lonsdale said.

APRA’s list of enforceable undertakings has been updated.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has welcomed David Bradbury as he commences his role as APRA Deputy Chair today.

Mr Bradbury has been appointed for a five-year term and will oversee APRA’s work in superannuation.

Mr Bradbury said: “I am honoured to be appointed Deputy Chair of APRA and pleased to commence in the role. I look forward to working with the Executive Board, APRA colleagues and stakeholders to support APRA’s mandate, and ensuring Australia’s superannuation sector continues to deliver sound outcomes for members.”

Mr Bradbury’s appointment completes APRA’s new Executive Board, following the Treasurer’s July announcement appointing him and Therese McCarthy Hockey as Deputy Chairs. Ms McCarthy Hockey has been with APRA for eight years and became an APRA Member in October 2022.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said: “I am pleased to welcome David to APRA. His deep experience in economic policy, regulation and public administration complements the Executive Board’s strong mix of prudential, financial markets, insurance, superannuation and public sector expertise.

“Together, APRA’s Members are well placed to oversee APRA’s work to maintain the safety and resilience of Australia’s financial system for the benefit of the community.”

Ms McCarthy Hockey will continue to oversee APRA’s work in banking, while APRA Member Suzanne Smith will continue to oversee general, life and private health insurance.

APRA and ASIC have released public notes from the latest superannuation CEO roundtables, held on 24 and 30 June 2026.

The regulators jointly hosted superannuation chief executive officers representing a broad cross-section of the industry.

Attendees discussed frontier artificial intelligence, cyber and operational resilience, and crisis preparedness, alongside discussions of broader emerging issues facing the sector.

The notes can be viewed on APRA’s website at: APRA and ASIC host Superannuation CEO Roundtables – June 2026.

Home insurers may be leaving Australians exposed to higher repair costs by using cash settlements in a significant percentage of claims, an ASIC review has found.

View the full media release.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the results of the 2026 superannuation performance test.

The annual test, which has been administered by APRA since 2021, assesses the long-term performance of superannuation products to improve member outcomes and enhance transparency.

The performance test continues to identify underperforming products and drive accountability within the sector.

This year 547 superannuation products were assessed, representing 61 per cent of APRA-regulated superannuation member benefits. Of these,12 products did not pass the test:

• 1 of 50 MySuper products failed the performance test. The product is offered by BUSS (Queensland) Pty Ltd. This is the first time a MySuper product has failed the test since 2023; and
• 11 of 141 platform trustee-directed products (TDPs) failed the performance test. These include five products that have failed the test for at least two consecutive years.

This year, six trustees were responsible for the 12 failed products, with the five consecutive failed products offered by two trustees. Failure of the performance test was largely driven by poorer investment performance rather than higher administration fees and costs, which are also taken into account as part of the test assessment. All 356 non-platform TDPs assessed this year passed the test.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said: “The annual performance test has been effective at reducing the number of members in underperforming products over the past five years. However, this year’s results show that pockets of underperformance remain and reinforce the need for trustees to take timely and effective action.”

APRA has also released the 2026 Comprehensive Product Performance Package, which combines the performance test results with additional measures of investment returns and fees to provide a broader view of how superannuation products are performing.

The CPPP shows that administration fees have continued to decline across all product types, however platform TDPs remain materially more expensive, even before taking into account the costs of any personal advice. The CPPP also shows that platform TDPs have higher rates of underperformance over 10 years when compared against other product types. Platform TDPs represent less than five per cent of the broader platform sector.

“Lower administration fees can make a meaningful difference to members’ retirement balances by supporting higher net returns.” Mr Lonsdale said. “APRA expects trustees to maintain a close focus on administration fees and fund performance in the best financial interests of their fund members.”

APRA administers the performance test in accordance with legislation set by Parliament. APRA notes the Government is giving consideration to options to strengthen the performance test, with regard to promoting productivity and protecting member interests.

View the results of the Annual superannuation performance test and Superannuation product performance on APRA’s website.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are urging financial market entities to move from gaining awareness of risks linked to frontier AI to taking decisive action.

Both APRA and ASIC have warned publicly in recent months that frontier AI is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber threats to the financial system while also accelerating technology and operational risks.

Building on those messages, the regulators hosted nine roundtables in June and July involving more than 600 attendees from across the financial system.

The roundtables were aimed at supporting industry to navigate a dynamic and rapidly evolving risk environment.

They were supported by the Australian Signals Directorate and included participation from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, signalling a whole-of-government response to this urgent threat.

Key themes to emerge included:

• the importance of getting the cyber fundamentals right, including identifying and managing critical assets and systems, timely patching, strong identity and access controls, attack surface reduction, backup integrity, tested response and recovery arrangements, and third-party risk management;
• the need to consider key decisions such as risk appetite, escalation authority, recovery priorities and communication strategies at board level before a crisis hits, given that frontier AI compresses incident response timeframes;
• a growing interest in defensive AI, including for threat intelligence, vulnerability detection, code review and incident response, however it was also acknowledged that capability remains limited;
• common dependency and concentration risk associated with third-party service providers can turn isolated individual incidents into much broader sector-wide disruption; and
• the importance of actively contributing to industry-led collaboration, including sector-wide threat intelligence sharing, dependency mapping, supplier assurance and sector incident coordination.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said: “The urgency of this challenge cannot be overstated. Threat actors are exploiting frontier AI models to identify and exploit vulnerabilities that previously may have taken a team of professionals months to find.

“Now is the time to ensure you have a strong, tested plan to respond when the worst happens. Australia’s financial system is only as resilient as its weakest link. Boards and executives must move beyond awareness and ensure their organisations have well-tested response plans and understand where they are vulnerable, so they can respond effectively under pressure.”

APRA Deputy Chair Therese McCarthy Hockey said: “This was the first time APRA and ASIC have created forums for rapid information-sharing across such a broad cross-section of the financial sector. It highlights both regulators’ commitment to better regulatory practices that support and enable industry – especially in the face of complex and evolving risks.

“A particularly encouraging theme that stood out was the willingness of more advanced entities to share practical insights, lessons and approaches with peers and less mature entities. This is precisely the type of ‘Team Australia’ mindset that is needed to shore up resilience across our highly interconnected financial system.”

An information paper with more insights from the roundtables, as well as a preparedness checklist for boards and executives, are available at: Insights from the APRA-ASIC Industry Roundtables.

Background

On 30 April 2026, APRA called for a step-change in how banks, insurers and superannuation trustees manage AI-related risks.

On 8 May 2026, ASIC called on all licensees and market participants to urgently strengthen their cyber resilience measures, as frontier AI intensifies the global cyber risk environment.

ASIC sets out how it will be easier to deal with for businesses trying to comply with the law, and harder to avoid for those causing harm, in its new Corporate Plan released today.

View the full media release.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court delivered a keynote speech at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) event in Sydney on 26 August.

Here are the highlights:

• ASIC has a clear mandate from government to support growth and productivity – and a responsibility to ensure our actions strengthen the economy and do not unnecessarily slow it.
• To do so, ASIC must act at the right time and address the right risks – becoming easier to deal with for those who are doing the right thing and harder to avoid for those who are not.
• This comes down to being more responsive, investing in earlier detection and prevention, and setting clear expectations, with targeted interventions and stronger consequences.

Find out more in the full speech.

Companies and directors can take simple steps now to prepare for the new requirements, including checking that company and director information is current and accurate.

From 1 July 2027, new laws passed under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026 will require companies to provide director identification numbers (director IDs) to ASIC.

Companies will need to provide director IDs to ASIC through company reporting processes, including annual reviews and when notifying changes to director details. Further information and guidance will be provided before 1 July 2027.

These changes form part of broader improvements to Australia’s business registers, including stronger authentication arrangements for users who create and update registry records.

Together, they will help reduce the risk of fraud and identity misuse, improve the accuracy of company information, and make it easier to identify company directors.

Getting ready

Companies and directors are encouraged to check that company and director information is current and accurate, including:

• checking company details are up to date
• confirming all current directors are correctly recorded
• updating any incorrect names, addresses or contact details.

Keeping information up to date now may help avoid delays or issues when the new requirements commence.

We also encourage checking director details recorded on the ASIC companies register against those held by the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) and updating records where necessary.

Directors can review their director ID details by visiting the ABRS Manage your director ID page, where they can:

• download a PDF copy of their director ID details
• update their details if they have changed.

Next steps

ASIC is engaging with stakeholders and will provide further guidance ahead of the 1 July 2027 commencement date. ASIC may also communicate directly with affected stakeholders to support awareness and readiness.

Find out more

• Visit the ASIC director ID webpage and FAQs.
• Information flyer: Important changes to director ID obligations.
• New laws to help Australians know who stands behind a company.

ASIC has published new guidance for professional year candidates, their supervisors, and Australian financial services (AFS) licensees.

Information Sheet 297 FAQs: Professional Year (INFO 297) provides answers to common questions, including information about documentation, record keeping, plans, tasks and logbooks.

ASIC has also provided candidates with a snapshot of some key milestones that must be met during the professional year.

ASIC developed the guidance to address issues identified in its 2024 review of a sample of professional year programs.

While the review found that AFS licensees generally had compliance systems and processes in place to ensure that individuals progressed through the professional year, ASIC identified some deficiencies in documentation and record keeping, including in documenting professional year plans and tasks, and maintaining logbooks.

The professional year is a supervised work and training period that forms part of the professional standards framework for relevant providers. The professional year standard is determined by the Minister and set out in the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018. The phased approach during the professional year is intended to support the transition to providing personal advice to retail clients as a fully qualified relevant provider.

Together, INFO 297and the supporting snapshot provides guidance on the professional year standard and the requirements relating to provisional relevant providers in the Corporations Act 2001, as well as practical information on the year of work and training.

For more information on the professional standards, including the professional year, see:

• Professional standards for financial advisers, and
• Applying the professional standards.

Download

• Information Sheet 297 FAQs: Professional Year (INFO 297)
• Professional year webpage

The Federal Court has today made declarations that Netwealth Superannuation Services Pty Ltd and Netwealth Investments Limited (collectively Netwealth) contravened the Corporations Act in relation to the First Guardian Master Fund.

View the full media release.