The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) released a six months enforcement update on Monday, reporting that it has imposed AU$84.3 million (around $63.4 million) in civil penalties between July 2021 and December 2021 that was approved by the courts.
The latest figure was significantly higher than the previous six months when ASIC collected AU$29.6 million due to penalizing several companies for violations.
The financial market supervisor acts against “misconduct to maintain trust and integrity in Australia’s financial system and promotes a fair, strong and efficient financial system for all Australians.”
In total, the regulator prosecuted 99 people and companies for strict liability offenses that include the restriction of 21 people and entities from providing financial services and credit. It even disqualified or removed 31 people from their positions as company directors.
Further, the enforcement actions resulted in custodial sentences of six people, with another ten individuals or companies given non-custodial sentences.
Also, the actions include the imposition of additional license conditions on ASX for exchange outages that happened in November 2020.
“This period also marked the filing of ASIC’s last civil proceeding stemming from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry,” the regulator added. It has already completed all the investigations, with ten proceedings still before the courts.
Increased Regulatory Vigilance
Meanwhile, the financial services industry in Australia is only growing. Finance Magnates earlier reported that it has the highest percentages of investors globally in the forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) markets.
Furthermore, ASIC has become vigilant against the growing crypto offerings within its jurisdiction and even shut the services of a company for its suspected illegal offerings. Recently, the Australian government released a consultation paper, defining cryptocurrencies as well as proposing a potential regulatory framework for the industry.
