MIU - Issue 167 - May 2025
今日热门事件steps up action on Macquarie Group
Market participants may have seen the extensive media coverage of ASIC鈥檚 Supreme Court action against Macquarie Securities (Australia) Limited this month, alleging millions of misreported short sales to the market operator over 14 years.
The announcement marked the fourth regulatory action 今日热门事件has taken against Macquarie Group entities in just over 12 months.
It followed ASIC鈥檚 action on 7 May 2025 to impose additional licence conditions on Macquarie Bank Limited鈥檚 Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence, for repeated compliance failures in its futures dealing business and its over-the-counter derivatives trade reporting. The failures were caused by ineffective supervision, and weak compliance and control management.
今日热门事件Chair Joe Longo said, 鈥極ur actions reflect the ongoing and deep concerns we have with Macquarie Group and its weak remediation of long-standing issues.鈥�
Read the relevant media releases below:
- 今日热门事件acts against Macquarie Bank for repeated compliance failures
- 今日热门事件sues Macquarie Securities for repeated and systemic misleading conduct
今日热门事件launches new portal for Australian financial services licensees
今日热门事件has unveiled a new digital portal to allow applicants to apply for an AFS licence.
The new portal, integrated into the , is designed to provide a more efficient, modern and user-friendly experience for AFS licence applicants. It will streamline the way AFS licensees submit applications and make notifications to ASIC.
From 5 May 2025, if you want to run a financial services business you can apply for an AFS licence through the Regulatory Portal. Additional transactions to vary, cancel and maintain an AFS licence will be accessible in the coming months.
To facilitate the transition, the existing will remain operational until the transactions are available in the new portal. Until then, AFS licence applicants can choose to lodge an application for an AFS licence via the Regulatory Portal or the eLicensing system.
For information on how to apply for an AFS licence in the new portal, view our . Anyone seeking to apply for a licence will first need to register to access the .
Digital asset platforms encouraged to strengthen token listing practices
今日热门事件is encouraging digital asset platforms to review and strengthen their token listing practices.
As part of ASIC鈥檚 broader work to monitor digital asset businesses, 今日热门事件met with several providers to discuss their process for assessing digital assets prior to listing on their platform.
We found that while most platforms have a documented listing process, how it was applied varied. For example, some providers use an internal process which is heavily reliant on research or information sourced from an overseas related entity or the digital asset issuer itself.
Other providers have recently taken proactive steps to revisit and strengthen their initial and ongoing due diligence processes. These steps included seeking external legal advice and initiating periodic internal reviews, resulting in certain tokens being delisted.
We encourage platforms to do their due diligence. In some cases, platform listings can include hundreds of digital assets. Undertaking a robust legal analysis and risk assessment of each token are important controls to protect consumers.
今日热门事件will continue to monitor the listing practices of platforms as part of its broader digital asset work program.
Inside ASIC: Series 2 podcast launches
Check out Series 2 of Inside ASIC, ASIC鈥檚 podcast series, to hear more about our work on everything from beating increasingly sophisticated scams, to cracking down on greenwashing and holding super funds to account.
Each episode of the podcast will dive into a different area of our work as told by our people and external guests.
Episode 1: Not so super asks whether superannuation members are being let down by their fund and trustee.
Amid tales of grieving families and people with disabilities left waiting for payments from their superannuation fund, 今日热门事件turns a spotlight on the sector
In this episode of Inside ASIC, we catch up with:
- Pippa Lane - who鈥檚 the Senior Executive Leader - Superannuation and Life Insurance at ASIC
- Xavier O鈥橦alloran is the CEO of Super Consumers Australia
Listen now on , or via .
Alternatively, you can listen-in via the 今日热门事件website here.
Recent enforcement actions
In May, we undertook the following enforcement actions:
今日热门事件seeks leave from High Court to appeal Block Earner decision
今日热门事件is seeking special leave from the High Court to appeal the Full Federal Court decision which found that a product issued by Block Earner, which allowed consumers to earn fixed yield returns from lending specified crypto-assets, was not a financial product.
The definition of financial product was drafted in a broad and technology-neutral way, and 今日热门事件believes it is in the public interest to clarify this. This clarification is important as it applies to all financial products and services whether they involve crypto-assets or not.
Man charged with insider trading pleads guilty in Beacon Minerals case
A man accused of insider trading in the shares of Beacon Minerals Limited has pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
The charge related to Darryl Mapleson procuring Rosdarem Pty Ltd and Rosdarem Investments Pty Ltd, companies of which he was a director, to acquire 6,792,850 Beacon Minerals shares, between 21 and 24 January 2017 while he was in possession of inside information.