ASIC publishes outcomes of enforcement action

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released an enforcement update for the six months to 31 December 2019.

The corporate regulator has reported that over the period, its actions led to 279 criminal charges being laid and approximately $12.9 million in civil penalties imposed by the courts.

Moreover, 77 individuals were banned from providing services to the public, 48 of which were restricted from providing financial services or credit.

ASIC’s enforcement action also led to approximately $22.2 million in compensation and remediation for consumers and investors.  

In the financial services sector, ASIC recorded 55 financial services related results, most of which were for administrative offence (37).

Additionally, as at 1 January 2020, ASIC had 14 criminal and 58 civil financial services related matters pending a final determination from the courts.

ASIC’s enforcement action in the financial sector included high-profile cases involving Westpac and NAB.

Westpac was ordered to pay $9.15 million for 22 contraventions of the Corporations Act.

A former NAB branch manager was also sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for making false and misleading statements in a home loan application.

[Related: Westpac pencils in $1.6bn in new impairment costs]