Australia Test 9
5 min40 WPM required256 words
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is the corporate, markets, and financial services regulator of the Commonwealth, with responsibility for ensuring that companies, financial markets, and financial services providers operate fairly, transparently, and efficiently, and that consumers and investors are protected from dishonest and misleading conduct. ASIC administers the Corporations Act 2001 and a range of other legislation, exercising licensing, registration, enforcement, and supervisory functions across a broad scope of regulated entities and activities. Company registration, annual reporting, and the maintenance of the public registers of companies, officeholders, and charges are foundational administrative functions carried out by ASIC, providing the transparency infrastructure that enables investors, creditors, and regulators to access accurate information about the legal structure and financial position of Australian companies. Financial services licensing requires that businesses providing financial services including financial advice, dealing in financial products, and operating a managed investment scheme hold an Australian Financial Services Licence issued by ASIC, with licensees required to meet ongoing obligations related to competence, compliance systems, and the standard of conduct toward retail clients. Market integrity regulation involves supervising the licensed financial markets on which securities, derivatives, and other financial instruments are traded, monitoring for market manipulation, insider trading, and other forms of market misconduct, and taking enforcement action where violations are detected. ASIC's enforcement program addresses the most serious instances of corporate misconduct including fraud, dishonesty, breach of directors' duties, and misleading conduct in financial services, using a range of tools from civil penalty proceedings and disqualification orders to criminal prosecutions for the most serious offences.