ASIC Removed 87 Firms and Individuals From Financial Services Last Year, Up From 58

Australia's corporate regulator removed or restricted 87 individuals and businesses from providing financial services in the 2025-26 financial year, up from 58 the previous year. Administrative enforcement outcomes reached 150, ASIC said Monday, compared with 105 a year earlier. Each outcome represents a decision the Australian Securities and Investments Commission takes on its own authority, without requiring a court order.  

ASIC Chairwoman Sarah Court said the regulator's administrative powers "can often be deployed more swiftly than or ahead of court action." The agency's review of 52 CFD issuers returned AU$40 million to investors through administrative intervention rather than litigation, during a year when contracts for difference drove roughly a third of the regulator's record fine haul. Overall, ASIC secured AU$830 million (US$579.3 million) in civil penalties, including AU$300.2 million from collapsed CFD issuer Union Standard and its former authorised representatives EuropeFX and TradeFred.  

Of the 150 administrative outcomes, 77 were permanent bannings or cancellations, covering 31 individuals and 46 organizations. Six people were banned for 10 years and 31 for shorter terms. The permanence rate reached 61% of financial services outcomes and 89% of credit outcomes. Credit was the only category to decline, with removals and restrictions dropping to 27 from 33, even as the financial services figure rose by half. Director disqualifications more than doubled to 36 from 14, with 18 of them running the maximum five-year term.  

Two collapsed investment vehicles accounted for a significant share of adviser bans. ASIC banned 15 advisers connected to the Shield Master Fund and the First Guardian Master Fund during the reporting period. The enforcement effort has been valued at about AU$1.1 billion across roughly 11,000 investors and has since reached the auditors who signed off on First Guardian. Those 15 advisers represent about one-sixth of everyone ASIC removed from financial services in the year. The regulator also logged a 28% rise in issues raised in misconduct reports over the second half of 2025.