Royal Commission miscreants to escape tougher rules
Companies identified by the Royal Commission as being in breach of the law may escape the harsher penalty regime flowing from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Review Taskforce.
A Treasury official has told Senate Estimates that while the Review Taskforce has made significant recommendations about further empowering ASIC, the necessary changes had not yet passed the Parliament.
The Treasury official, Treasury Financial System division head, Diane Brown said the provisions flowing from the Review Taskforce recommendations would only apply to conduct occurring from the date of the legislation.
Brown had been asked whether the ASIC changes would have any impact on organisations which had been cited in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
Brown said that while the recommended changes could not be applied retrospectively, they would go towards making it easier for ASIC to enforce licensing breaches, with much more significant consequences when there were those breaches.
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