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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is prioritising regulatory simplification, technological investment and support for innovation, demonstrating a willingness to adapt legislation and operations to emerging financial trends.
In its corporate plan for 2025–26, ASIC stated that it will continue to explore how it can administer the law in the areas it regulates more efficiently and effectively.
“Opportunities to reduce red tape through law reform are also on the table,” the regulator said.
ASIC intends to embed regulatory simplification in its work as a key priority. It also plans to build on the Simplification Consultative Group, established late last year, by simplifying regulatory guidance, reducing complexity in regulatory instruments and enabling easier transactions and interactions with the regulator..
ASIC chair Joe Longo said the operating environment for the financial ecosystem is increasingly complex and requires a well-calibrated response from the regulator.
“We direct our efforts and finite resources to areas where we see the greatest risks and potential harms. In some cases, that means continuing work already underway. In other cases, this means pivoting to new or emerging issues or causes for concern.”
The regulator said it plans to invest further in streamlining its operations, which it believes is proving successful.
It says the reforms have resulted in improved performance, including more investigations, faster progression of matters to regulatory or enforcement action, enhanced data analytics and surveillance capabilities and stronger stakeholder engagement.
“We will reinforce those efforts with further investments in our people, systems, and technology, to ensure we are a digitally enabled, data-informed regulator,” ASIC said.
Financial crime is another priority for the coming year, with disrupting scams at the centre of its collaboration with other regulators to implement reforms under the Scams Prevention Framework.
Supporting innovation
Supporting financial innovation is also a key pillar of ASIC’s plan, with tokenisation expected to have a broad impact on financial markets, the regulator said.
To that end, it plans to finalise updates to its guidance on digital assets and related products, support Treasury with law reform and transitional arrangements and support the Reserve Bank of Australia’s digital currency pilot.
As covered by Vixio, in July, Project Acacia, Australia’s research programme examining wholesale digital currency, reached a “significant milestone”, with participants selected to explore innovations in digital money and settlement infrastructure.
The development paves the way for the pilot scheme to progress to its next phase, testing specific use cases. The project is examining whether innovations in digital money and existing settlement infrastructure could support the development of Australian wholesale tokenised asset markets.
As part of its support for the pilot, ASIC is relaxing rules and providing regulatory relief to participants.
Money no object
Alongside ASIC’s readiness to invest in its staff and technology, its financial support for Project Acacia demonstrates that it is prepared to back its intentions financially.
This willingness to finance data-driven, innovative technology demonstrates that Australia regards a modern, streamlined regulator as central to its economic growth.
Similarly, the willingness to legislate, if necessary, to reduce regulatory complexity shows that the country is prepared to remove any obstacles to effective regulation driving economic growth.
