ASIC Reports Record AU$830 Million in Civil Penalties, AU$644 Million Returned to Consumers in FY2025-26

Australia's corporate regulator delivered a record enforcement performance in the 2025-26 financial year, securing AU$830 million in civil penalties while helping return AU$643.5 million to consumers and investors through compensation, refunds, and remediation programs.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the regulator launched more than 250 investigations during the financial year, resulting in 32 new civil proceedings, 18 criminal prosecutions, and 25 criminal convictions, including 21 custodial sentences. ASIC also issued AU$12 million in infringement notices and obtained more than AU$137,000 in criminal fines.

The regulator's largest civil penalty came against Union Standard International Group, which was ordered to pay AU$300 million for misconduct involving contracts for difference (CFDs), marking one of the largest penalties ever imposed in Australia's retail trading sector.

Other significant enforcement outcomes included AU$35 million penalties against HSBC Bank Australia for failures in scam prevention and Macquarie Securities for systemic market reporting failures. Westpac was ordered to pay AU$26 million over shortcomings in handling customer hardship applications, while Walker Stores (Snaffle) received a AU$33.5 million penalty for unlawful consumer credit practices. Mercer Super was also fined AU$10.3 million for systemic breach reporting failures.

Beyond court-imposed penalties, ASIC reported that its enforcement actions resulted in AU$643.5 million being returned to affected customers and investors. This included nearly AU$40 million in refunds to CFD investors, while HSBC has so far paid around AU$21.5 million in compensation through a remediation program and returned an additional AU$6.5 million recovered from scam-related losses.

On the criminal enforcement front, ASIC highlighted several major sentencing outcomes, including prison terms for former fund manager Rodney Forrest, former financial adviser Anthony Torre, and three former Remedy Housing officials.

The results underscore ASIC's continued focus on misconduct affecting retail investors, with enforcement priorities spanning CFDs, scam prevention, market integrity, superannuation, digital assets, and corporate governance.