Outgoing
ASIC Chairman Joe Longo used his last speech within the function to name for a ban on
unlicensed communications about superannuation, naming the lead-generation
pipelines which have funnelled clients into nugatory schemes as a type of
“industrial-scale misconduct” concentrating on Australian retirement savers.
Singapore Summit: Meet the biggest
APAC brokers (and people you continue to do not!)
Talking at
the Monetary Counselling Australia Convention in Cairns in the present day (Thursday),
Longo mentioned the cold-call and on-line channels exploiting Australia’s roughly A$4
trillion tremendous system have produced instances the place on a regular basis savers “signed up
for a free tremendous test have as a substitute misplaced their life financial savings”.
He urged
the federal authorities, which is consulting on choices, to behave on the supply
slightly than chase particular person operators after the harm is finished.
The Chairman
argued tremendous recommendation ought to sit behind the identical licensing wall that applies to
different regulated professions, with anybody advertising such selections to retail
clients required to carry correct credentials earlier than being allowed close to one other
particular person’s retirement cash.
Lead-Technology Mills Tied
to Defend, First Guardian Collapses
The
proposal builds on ASIC ‘s broader push in opposition to the referral networks that fed
traders into two of the highest-profile failures of Longo’s time period.
The
regulator has tied a lot of the exercise across the Defend Grasp Fund and the First Guardian Grasp Fund to telemarketers and lead
mills that pushed clients to roll their superannuation into self-managed
funds earlier than steering them into the now-frozen merchandise.
Longo mentioned
roughly A$421 million has been returned to traders in reference to these
two instances to this point, with enforcement in opposition to trustees, advisers and referral
companies nonetheless working by the courts.
“If a
mannequin thrives on strain, opacity, or hurt, ASIC will step in,” he mentioned,
signalling that the regulator’s urge for food for motion in opposition to lead-generation
operators is just not winding down along with his time period.
The push
additionally follows ASIC’s public alert about cold-calling
tremendous scams issued
final yr, which informed customers to be on pink alert for high-pressure switching
presents.
Longo’s
argument is that shopper warnings alone don’t work when the underlying
lead-generation enterprise mannequin stays authorized.
“Watchdogs Have to Each
Bark and Chunk”
Longo additionally
pushed again on solutions in some business quarters that ASIC ought to resolve
extra issues quietly. “Watchdogs must each bark and chew to be
efficient,” he mentioned, defending the public-facing enforcement posture that
has outlined his tenure.
“Confidence
is the true foreign money of the monetary system,” Longo added, arguing that
seen court docket motion slightly than personal settlement is what restores public
belief after large-scale misconduct.
The Chairman
recapped an enforcement build-out that has greater than doubled the variety of
formal investigations ASIC runs every year and roughly quadrupled the worth of
penalties obtained.
About A$411
million in civil penalties has been secured to this point within the present fiscal yr,
following the regulator’s document A$583 million returned to
customers within the
second half of 2025.
AI and Agentic Instruments
Reshape the Rip-off Menace
On-line
fraud disruption was one other operating theme. ASIC has taken down near 12,000
phishing and funding rip-off web sites up to now yr, constructing on a scam-site removing program that crossed 7,000 takedowns within the
earlier fiscal yr.
Longo
flagged agentic AI as the subsequent strain level for the regulator.
“No
one was speaking about agentic AI 12 months in the past,” he mentioned, predicting that
autonomous instruments would push rip-off volumes larger slightly than decrease into 2026 by
reducing the price of constructing convincing faux platforms at scale.
Sarah Court docket Takes Over in
June
Deputy
Chairwoman Sarah Court docket will succeed Longo when his time period ends subsequent month,
changing into the primary lady to steer ASIC for the reason that company was established in
1991.
Court docket has
led a number of of essentially the most outstanding enforcement actions of the previous two years,
together with ASIC’s A$250 million penalty case in opposition to ANZ and the Federal Court docket
proceedings tied to Defend Grasp Fund events.
Longo, an
Italian-Australian lawyer who took the Chairman function in 2021, framed his
farewell as a handover slightly than a wind-down.
He mentioned the
company will publish studies later this yr on debt administration, debt assortment
and motorized vehicle financing, three areas the fee has flagged as subsequent
priorities beneath Court docket.
Outgoing
ASIC Chairman Joe Longo used his last speech within the function to name for a ban on
unlicensed communications about superannuation, naming the lead-generation
pipelines which have funnelled clients into nugatory schemes as a type of
“industrial-scale misconduct” concentrating on Australian retirement savers.
Singapore Summit: Meet the biggest
APAC brokers (and people you continue to do not!)
Talking at
the Monetary Counselling Australia Convention in Cairns in the present day (Thursday),
Longo mentioned the cold-call and on-line channels exploiting Australia’s roughly A$4
trillion tremendous system have produced instances the place on a regular basis savers “signed up
for a free tremendous test have as a substitute misplaced their life financial savings”.
He urged
the federal authorities, which is consulting on choices, to behave on the supply
slightly than chase particular person operators after the harm is finished.
The Chairman
argued tremendous recommendation ought to sit behind the identical licensing wall that applies to
different regulated professions, with anybody advertising such selections to retail
clients required to carry correct credentials earlier than being allowed close to one other
particular person’s retirement cash.
Lead-Technology Mills Tied
to Defend, First Guardian Collapses
The
proposal builds on ASIC ‘s broader push in opposition to the referral networks that fed
traders into two of the highest-profile failures of Longo’s time period.
The
regulator has tied a lot of the exercise across the Defend Grasp Fund and the First Guardian Grasp Fund to telemarketers and lead
mills that pushed clients to roll their superannuation into self-managed
funds earlier than steering them into the now-frozen merchandise.
Longo mentioned
roughly A$421 million has been returned to traders in reference to these
two instances to this point, with enforcement in opposition to trustees, advisers and referral
companies nonetheless working by the courts.
“If a
mannequin thrives on strain, opacity, or hurt, ASIC will step in,” he mentioned,
signalling that the regulator’s urge for food for motion in opposition to lead-generation
operators is just not winding down along with his time period.
The push
additionally follows ASIC’s public alert about cold-calling
tremendous scams issued
final yr, which informed customers to be on pink alert for high-pressure switching
presents.
Longo’s
argument is that shopper warnings alone don’t work when the underlying
lead-generation enterprise mannequin stays authorized.
“Watchdogs Have to Each
Bark and Chunk”
Longo additionally
pushed again on solutions in some business quarters that ASIC ought to resolve
extra issues quietly. “Watchdogs must each bark and chew to be
efficient,” he mentioned, defending the public-facing enforcement posture that
has outlined his tenure.
“Confidence
is the true foreign money of the monetary system,” Longo added, arguing that
seen court docket motion slightly than personal settlement is what restores public
belief after large-scale misconduct.
The Chairman
recapped an enforcement build-out that has greater than doubled the variety of
formal investigations ASIC runs every year and roughly quadrupled the worth of
penalties obtained.
About A$411
million in civil penalties has been secured to this point within the present fiscal yr,
following the regulator’s document A$583 million returned to
customers within the
second half of 2025.
AI and Agentic Instruments
Reshape the Rip-off Menace
On-line
fraud disruption was one other operating theme. ASIC has taken down near 12,000
phishing and funding rip-off web sites up to now yr, constructing on a scam-site removing program that crossed 7,000 takedowns within the
earlier fiscal yr.
Longo
flagged agentic AI as the subsequent strain level for the regulator.
“No
one was speaking about agentic AI 12 months in the past,” he mentioned, predicting that
autonomous instruments would push rip-off volumes larger slightly than decrease into 2026 by
reducing the price of constructing convincing faux platforms at scale.
Sarah Court docket Takes Over in
June
Deputy
Chairwoman Sarah Court docket will succeed Longo when his time period ends subsequent month,
changing into the primary lady to steer ASIC for the reason that company was established in
1991.
Court docket has
led a number of of essentially the most outstanding enforcement actions of the previous two years,
together with ASIC’s A$250 million penalty case in opposition to ANZ and the Federal Court docket
proceedings tied to Defend Grasp Fund events.
Longo, an
Italian-Australian lawyer who took the Chairman function in 2021, framed his
farewell as a handover slightly than a wind-down.
He mentioned the
company will publish studies later this yr on debt administration, debt assortment
and motorized vehicle financing, three areas the fee has flagged as subsequent
priorities beneath Court docket.
