Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

The Government has delivered on its commitment to introduce an industry funding model for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2017 and related bills receiving passage through the Senate.

The industry funding model is a critical component of the Government’s plan to improve consumer outcomes in the financial services sector. It will have significant benefits including:

• improving equity, as only those entities that are regulated by ASIC and create need for regulation will bear its costs, rather than ordinary Australian taxpayers;

• encouraging regulatory compliance, as good conduct will drive down supervisory levies;

• improving ASIC’s resource allocation, by providing it with richer data to better identify emerging risks; and

• enhancing ASIC’s transparency and accountability through the publication of its expenditure, explain its regulatory priorities, and account for its performance.

It will also build on other measures pursued by the Government, including:

• comprehensive reviews of ASIC’s capabilities and enforcement regime ensuring ASIC has the powers and penalties to deter misconduct and boost consumer confidence; and

• the $127.2 million ASIC funding package, which will significantly enhance data analytics and surveillance capabilities and facilitate proactive enforcement.

Regulations that provide additional detail on the operation of the industry funding model will be made shortly, ahead of the commencement of the model on 1 July 2017.

The industry funding model delivers on an important recommendation of the 2014 Murray Financial System Inquiry, as well as the 2013 Senate Inquiry into ASIC’s performance.

The Government appreciates industry’s deep engagement throughout the development of the industry funding model.