On the pulse
Senate Committee report on the Scams Prevention Framework – see report.
Buy Now, Pay Later regulations set to be finalised – see exposure draft.
Banking Code Compliance Committee sanctions Bank of Queensland for systematic breaches – see website.
APRA Executive Board Member Suzanne Smith – Speech to the Members Health Directors’ Professional Development Program – see speech.
Financial reporting: new statutory body proposed – see media release.
ASIC: 2025 key issues outlook – see media release.
ASIC calls out superannuation trustees for weak scam and fraud practices – see media release.
APRA Deputy Chair Margaret Cole - Remarks to the Conexus Chair Forum Sorrento – see media release.
APRA increases transparency with enhancements to annual superannuation publications – see media release.
$8 million in penalties ordered in first civil penalty action for breach of DDO regime: ASIC v Firstmac Ltd (Penalty Hearing) [2025] FCA 12
G+T Insight - Regulatory Rumblings – Quarterly Update January 2025 – Elizabeth Hilliard and Paddy O’Sullivan (31 January 2025)
ASIC
ASIC: 2025 key issues outlook
ASIC has identified the most significant issues within its regulatory remit in 2025. Of particular interest, ASIC states that it will be focusing on the following issues in 2025:
The evolving relationship between public and private markets, seeking feedback to potentially adjust regulatory settings and supervision.
Cyber attacks, data breaches and internal system failures are undermining market confidence and causing financial loss. ASIC is reviewing cyber and operational resilience across sectors, planning to share insights and enforce director duty breaches related to cyber risk.
Impact of the CHESS replacement program on Australian markets. In collaboration with the RBA, ASIC is monitoring the ASX's management of its clearing and settlement operations as the CHESS replacement project progresses, and ensuring risks are managed.
Poor quality climate-related financial disclosures leading to misinformed investment decisions. ASIC is supporting the rollout of climate-related financial reporting, ensuring transparency to Australians and investors and scrutinising misleading 'green' claims.
For more information, including a full list of ASIC's key issues, see ASIC news: Key issues outlook 2025 (24 January 2025).
ASIC calls out superannuation trustees for weak scam and fraud practices
ASIC Commissioner, Simone Constant, has written to superannuation trustees urging them to strengthen anti-scam protocols, providing guidance to prevent, detect, and respond to fraudulent activities which are increasing in sophistication. Superannuation trustees are urged to be vigilant in minimising scam and fraud risks to members, as they oversee significant assets for Australians, with a focus on proactive scam monitoring and response to sophisticated scam tactics.
Superannuation trustees cannot outsource their responsibility of scam protection, highlighted in the Commissioner’s letter following an ASIC review showing a lack of comprehensive scam strategies among superannuation trustees. This forms a part of ASIC’s ongoing focus on disrupting investment scams in financial services landscape.
In 2023, ASIC published Report 761 Scam prevention, detection and response by the four major banks (REP 761) and in 2024, ASIC published Report 790 Anti-scam practices of banks outside the four major banks (REP 790).
See ASIC media release and Open letter to Superannuation Trustees (PDF 262 KB).
ASIC Key actions and proceedings:
ASIC invites feedback on Buy Now Pay Later Regulatory Guidance - ASIC on 7 January 2025 announced a consultation on new regulatory guidance for the buy now pay later industry. See ASIC media release.
APRA
APRA Executive Board Member Suzanne Smith – Speech to the Members Health Directors’ Professional Development Program
Suzanne Smith's speech to the Members Health Directors’ Professional Development Program acknowledges the current strength of the private health insurance industry while highlighting the significant changes and challenges it faces. She urges directors to focus on effective risk management, future sustainability, and strong governance to navigate the uncertain future. Smith emphasises the importance of directors' roles in leading their organisations through potential volatility, advocating for strategic planning, and maintaining financial and operational resilience.
See full speech.
APRA Deputy Chair Margaret Cole - Remarks to the Conexus Chair Forum Sorrento
In her speech at the Conexus Chair Forum, APRA Deputy Chair Margaret Cole emphasised the critical role of governance in the financial industry, particularly in superannuation, and outlined APRA's commitment to transparency and scrutiny of fund expenditures. She highlighted the need for improvement in operational risk management and modernisation of systems, and announced APRA's review of governance prudential standards to drive improvements and align with contemporary practices. Cole also stressed the importance of collaboration with ASIC and the need for strong governance to ensure the resilience of funds and protect member outcomes.
See APRA media release.
APRA increases transparency with enhancements to annual superannuation publications
APRA has released its 2024 annual superannuation statistics, introducing fund-level expenditure and detailed insurance data for the first time, which will be included in future publications.
See APRA media release.
Corporate cases
$8 million in penalties ordered in first civil penalty action for breach of DDO regime: ASIC v Firstmac Ltd (Penalty Hearing) [2025] FCA 12
In Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Firstmac Ltd (Penalty Hearing) [2025] FCA 12, the Federal Court of Australia (Federal Court) ordered that Firstmac Limited (Firstmac) pay $8 million in penalties for breaching the design and distribution obligations (DDO) in Part 7.8A of the Corporations Act 2001.
This is the first Australian civil penalty action by ASIC against a distributor involving DDO breaches.
This penalty decision follows the court's earlier decision in which Firstmac was found liable for breaching the DDO regime by failing to take reasonable steps that would have resulted in, or would have been reasonably likely to have resulted in, the distribution of an investment product being consistent with its target market determination for the product.
Legislation and proposed legislation
Senate Committee report on the Scams Prevention Framework
On 3 February 2025, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee (Committee) published a report (Report) on the provisions of the Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024 (Bill), ultimately recommending that the Senate pass the Bill. The Report summarises the provisions of the Bill, and proposed structure and operation of the Scams Prevention Framework.
The Bill, which has been subject to debate and amendments, aims to extend consumer protections and align digital platforms with standards in other economic sectors, including internal dispute resolution processes. Despite general support, there are calls for further amendments to ensure clarity, reduce compliance burdens, and enhance enforcement measures. These include defining 'actionable scam intelligence', setting clear roles for regulators and dispute resolution bodies, and revising the bill to provide guidelines on liability apportionment and compensation for scam victims.
The Bill subsequently passed both Houses of Parliament on 13 February 2025.
Buy Now, Pay Later regulations set to be finalised
The Australian Government is advancing the regulation of the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) sector with a new exposure draft, focusing on consumer protection, transparent pricing, and industry accountability.
These reforms, set to be enacted later this year, aim to align BNPL with traditional credit services and include measures such as affordability checks, fee disclosures, and standards for responsible lending. Feedback from stakeholders is sought by 12 February 2025 as part of the consultation process.
Further information regarding the consultation process is available on the Treasury website.
Banking Code Compliance Committee sanctions Bank of Queensland for systematic breaches
Following on from an investigation by the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) into the adherence by certain banks with the provisions in the Banking Code of Practice dealing with deceased estates the Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has been sanctioned for serious and systemic breaches of 190(a)-(c) of the 2019 Code. The BCCC has named and published the details of BOQ’s non-compliance on its website.
Financial reporting: new statutory body proposed
Treasury has issued a consultation paper entitled Positioning Australia's financial reporting system for the future proposing the creation of a new statutory body to oversee financial reporting. This body would integrate the roles of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB), centralising standard setting and advisory functions for external reporting.
The proposed body would be managed by a government-appointed board and would include three technical committees focused on accounting, sustainability reporting, and auditing and assurance standards. Stakeholder feedback is sought on various aspects of the body's structure and operations, including transparency, independence, and governance.
Submissions are invited until 21 February 2025, with roundtable discussions planned for mid-February.
For the Treasury press release, see Treasury: Next steps in streamlining Australia’s financial reporting architecture.
G+T articles
G+T Insight - Regulatory Rumblings – Quarterly Update January 2025 – quarterly round-up of the key enforcement developments and updates that ASIC-regulated entities and individuals need to know about, packaged up in a short read and brought to you by our Disputes and Investigations team – Elizabeth Hilliard and Paddy O’Sullivan (31 January 2025).
Calendar dates
12 February 2025 – Final report due in the Senate inquiry into greenwashing
28 February 2025 – Updated Banking Code of Practice (2025 version) comes into effect
15 March 2025 – Financial Accountability Regime takes effect for superannuation and insurance bodies
31 March 2026 – Amended AML/CTF obligations commence for existing reporting entities
31 March 2026 – Tranche two entities may enrol as reporting entities with AUSTRAC