The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) may have had its hands full with regulatory issues in the past 12 months, but it nonetheless imposed 59 redundancies at a cost of $3.153 million.
The regulator has told a Senate Estimates Committee that in the 12 months to the end of May it had imposed 59 redundancies, 43 of which were voluntary and 16 of which were involuntary.
Answering a question from the Opposition spokesman on Financial Services, Senator Mathias Cormann (pictured), ASIC also pointed to the possibility of further redundancies over the next three years.
However it said the redundancies would be dependent on the outcome of the ASIC Funding Review currently underway and being conducted in conjunction with Treasury and the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
ASIC said the review was expected to be concluded by December, next year, for consideration as part of the 2012-13 Budget process.
There has been a widespread belief that ASIC will need to increase staffing and resources to accommodate the implementation of the Government’s Future of Financial Advice changes.
