Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on November 14, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
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(Reuters) – Australia’s corporate watchdog said on Thursday its focus next year will be on protecting consumers bearing the brunt of rising cost-of-living pressures by clamping down on wrongdoing across the financial sector.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it would intensify its spotlight on misconduct that exploits retirement savings, with a particular focus on unscrupulous property investment schemes.
Also on top of its priority target list will be insurers acting in bad faith, “greenwashing”, or deceptive environmental marketing, in investment options, business models that skirt safeguards meant to shield consumers from predatory credit practices and protecting the interests of small businesses and their creditors.
“These priorities are about protecting Australians from financial harm and targeting the people who try to take advantage of them,” the regulator said in a statement.
The targets underscore increased efforts by Australian regulators to combat misconduct and unfair practices in recent years, a movement largely driven by the findings of a Royal Commission investigation into the financial sector that concluded in 2019.
ASIC in 2023 started 25% more investigations than the previous year and 23% more new civil proceedings. It had enforcement outcomes in areas including greenwashing, cryptocurrencies, predatory lending, high-cost credit and insider trading.
Australia’s competition regulator is also taking action to protect consumers, suing supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles over allegations of jacking up prices and luring customers with relatively small discounts. The retailers are also facing a host of influential government inquiries, with some lawmakers calling for breaking them up.
($1 = 1.5434 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the regulatory body responsible for enforcing company and financial services laws to protect consumers, investors, and creditors in Australia.
Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing practice where a company exaggerates or falsely claims to be environmentally friendly to attract consumers and improve its public image.
Retirement savings are funds that individuals set aside during their working years to provide income after they retire, often through pension plans or personal savings accounts.
Predatory lending refers to unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices by lenders during the loan origination process, often targeting vulnerable borrowers with high-interest rates and hidden fees.
Consumer protection refers to laws and regulations designed to ensure the rights of consumers are upheld, preventing businesses from engaging in unfair practices.
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