ASIC: Let us spend more to make us cheaper
At the same time as advisers have been hit with increased levy invoices, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been hitting up the Treasury for more Budget funding, describing itself as a “Capex poor organisation”.
The regulator has confirmed to a Parliamentary committee that it has been in active discussions with Treasury “and indeed the Treasurer’s office” to find funding help it fill gaps in its technical ability to collect and interpret data, particularly in the managed investment scheme (MIS) and funds management space.
“We do want to address those gaps,” ASIC deputy chair, Karen Chester told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.
“We are a capex-poor organisation and as a capex-poor organisation its hard for us to be a lean, mean data-processing machine so we’re discussions with Treasury about making a case to the Government about us getting some capex funding to do that better and smarter going forward,” she said.
Chester told the committee that she was hopeful that through the use of data and analytics ASIC could become “harm seeking precision missiles” it could become far more cost-effective.
“And our cost burden on industry becomes so much less,” she said.
“We think that this capex spend that we’ve got in mind will be very cost-effective for industry in the future,” Chester said.
Recommended for you
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has lowered rates to a level not seen since mid-2023.
Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones has shared further details on the second tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms including modernising best interests duty and reforming Statements of Advice.
The Federal Court has found a company director guilty of operating unregistered managed investment schemes and carrying on a financial services business without holding an AFSL.
The Governance Institute has said ASIC’s governance arrangements are no longer “fit for purpose” in a time when financial markets are quickly innovating and cyber crime becomes a threat.
