Australian Securities and Investments Commission
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| Statutory authority overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 July 1998 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Dissolved | Australian Securities Commission |
| Jurisdiction | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Employees | 2,017 (As of April 2013[update])[1] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Statutory authority executives |
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| Key document | |
| Website | www |
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to enforce and regulate company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors.[2] ASIC was established on 1 July 1998 following recommendations from the Wallis Inquiry. ASIC's authority and scope is determined pursuant to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act, 2001 (Cth).
ASIC is responsible for the administration of all or parts of the following legislation:[3]
- Corporations Act, 2001 (Cth)
- Insurance Contracts Act, 1984 (Cth)
- National Consumer Credit Protection Act, 2009 (Cth)
History
ASIC was originally formed as the Australian Securities Commission (ASC), which came into being on 1 January 1991 in accordance with the (then) ASC Act 1989. The purpose of the ASC was to unify corporate regulators around Australia by replacing the National Companies and Securities Commission and the Corporate Affairs offices of the states and territories.
The corporate regulator became the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) on 1 July 1998, when it also became responsible for consumer protection in superannuation, insurance, deposit taking. It has since gained further responsibilities: in 2002 for credit, the Australian Stock Exchange in 2009, and Chi-X in 2011.
In 2012, ASIC called for powers to use data which other intelligence agencies have intercepted.[4]
Areas of responsibility
ASIC's areas of responsibility include:
- corporate governance
- financial services
- securities and derivatives
- insurance
- consumer protection
- financial literacy.
ASIC's consumer website www.moneysmart.gov.au was launched on 15 March 2011. MoneySmart replaced ASIC's two previous consumer websites, FIDO and Understanding Money. MoneySmart aims to help people make good financial decisions by providing free, independent and unbiased information, tools and resources.
See also
- Australian Accounting Standards Board
- Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
- Australian Registered Scheme Number
- Australian Takeovers Panel
- Economy of Australia
- Reserve Bank of Australia
- Securities Commission
- List of financial regulatory authorities
- List of company registers
References
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External links
- Australian Securities & Investments Commission
- MoneySmart - the consumer website of Australian Securities & Investments Commission
- Use dmy dates from May 2014
- Use Australian English from May 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Articles containing potentially dated statements from April 2013
- Financial regulatory authorities
- Federal law enforcement agencies of Australia
- Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia
- Australian Securities Exchange
- Corporate governance
