Outgoing
ASIC Chairman Joe Longo used his final speech in the role to call for a ban on
unlicensed communications about superannuation, naming the lead-generation
pipelines that have funnelled customers into worthless schemes as a form of
"industrial-scale misconduct" targeting Australian retirement savers.
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)
Longo Uses Final Speech to
Target "Industrial-Scale" Super Fraud
Speaking at
the Financial Counselling Australia Conference in Cairns today (Thursday),
Longo said the cold-call and online channels exploiting Australia's roughly A$4
trillion super system have produced cases where everyday savers "signed up
for a free super check have instead lost their life savings".
He urged
the federal government, which is consulting on options, to act at the source
rather than chase individual operators after the damage is done.
The Chairman
argued super advice should sit behind the same licensing wall that applies to
other regulated professions, with anyone marketing such decisions to retail
customers required to hold proper credentials before being allowed near another
person's retirement money.
Lead-Generation Mills Tied
to Shield, First Guardian Collapses
The
proposal builds on ASIC
ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the prime regulator in Australia for corporate, markets, financial services, and consumer credit. It is empowered under the financial service laws to facilitate, regulate, and enforce Australian financial laws. The Australian Commission was set up and is administered under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act of 2001. ASIC was initially the Australian Securities Commission based on the 1989 ASC Act. Initially, the
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the prime regulator in Australia for corporate, markets, financial services, and consumer credit. It is empowered under the financial service laws to facilitate, regulate, and enforce Australian financial laws. The Australian Commission was set up and is administered under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act of 2001. ASIC was initially the Australian Securities Commission based on the 1989 ASC Act. Initially, the
Read this Term's broader push against the referral networks that fed
investors into two of the highest-profile failures of Longo's term.
The
regulator has tied much of the activity around the Shield Master Fund and the First Guardian Master Fund to telemarketers and lead
generators that pushed customers to roll their superannuation into self-managed
funds before steering them into the now-frozen products.
Longo said
roughly A$421 million has been returned to investors in connection with those
two cases so far, with enforcement against trustees, advisers and referral
firms still working through the courts.
"If a
model thrives on pressure, opacity, or harm, ASIC will step in," he said,
signalling that the regulator's appetite for action against lead-generation
operators is not winding down with his term.
The push
also follows ASIC's public alert about cold-calling
super scams issued
last year, which told consumers to be on red alert for high-pressure switching
offers.
Longo's
argument is that consumer warnings alone do not work when the underlying
lead-generation business model remains legal.
“Watchdogs Need to Both
Bark and Bite”
Longo also
pushed back on suggestions in some industry quarters that ASIC should resolve
more matters quietly. "Watchdogs need to both bark and bite to be
effective," he said, defending the public-facing enforcement posture that
has defined his tenure.
"Confidence
is the true currency of the financial system," Longo added, arguing that
visible court action rather than private settlement
Settlement
Settlement in finance refers to the process when a buyer makes payment and receives the agreed-upon services or goods. The term is used on exchanges such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when security changes hands. When the asset is transferred and placed in the new buyer's name, it is considered settled. This process could take a few hours or several days after a trade is made. It depends on the clearance process. In the United States, the settlement date for marketable stocks is usually 2
Settlement in finance refers to the process when a buyer makes payment and receives the agreed-upon services or goods. The term is used on exchanges such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when security changes hands. When the asset is transferred and placed in the new buyer's name, it is considered settled. This process could take a few hours or several days after a trade is made. It depends on the clearance process. In the United States, the settlement date for marketable stocks is usually 2
Read this Term is what restores public
trust after large-scale misconduct.
The Chairman
recapped an enforcement build-out that has more than doubled the number of
formal investigations ASIC runs each year and roughly quadrupled the value of
penalties obtained.
About A$411
million in civil penalties has been secured so far in the current fiscal year,
following the regulator's record A$583 million returned to
consumers in the
second half of 2025.
AI and Agentic Tools
Reshape the Scam Threat
Online
fraud disruption was another running theme. ASIC has taken down close to 12,000
phishing and investment scam websites in the past year, building on a scam-site removal program that crossed 7,000 takedowns in the
previous fiscal year.
Longo
flagged agentic AI as the next pressure point for the regulator.
"No
one was talking about agentic AI 12 months ago," he said, predicting that
autonomous tools would push scam volumes higher rather than lower into 2026 by
lowering the cost of building convincing fake platforms at scale.
Sarah Court Takes Over in
June
Deputy
Chairwoman Sarah Court will succeed Longo when his term ends next month,
becoming the first woman to lead ASIC since the agency was established in
1991.
Court has
led several of the most prominent enforcement actions of the past two years,
including ASIC's A$250 million penalty case against ANZ and the Federal Court
proceedings tied to Shield Master Fund parties.
Longo, an
Italian-Australian lawyer who took the Chairman role in 2021, framed his
farewell as a handover rather than a wind-down.
He said the
agency will publish reports later this year on debt management, debt collection
and motor vehicle financing, three areas the commission has flagged as next
priorities under Court.
Outgoing
ASIC Chairman Joe Longo used his final speech in the role to call for a ban on
unlicensed communications about superannuation, naming the lead-generation
pipelines that have funnelled customers into worthless schemes as a form of
"industrial-scale misconduct" targeting Australian retirement savers.
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)
Longo Uses Final Speech to
Target "Industrial-Scale" Super Fraud
Speaking at
the Financial Counselling Australia Conference in Cairns today (Thursday),
Longo said the cold-call and online channels exploiting Australia's roughly A$4
trillion super system have produced cases where everyday savers "signed up
for a free super check have instead lost their life savings".
He urged
the federal government, which is consulting on options, to act at the source
rather than chase individual operators after the damage is done.
The Chairman
argued super advice should sit behind the same licensing wall that applies to
other regulated professions, with anyone marketing such decisions to retail
customers required to hold proper credentials before being allowed near another
person's retirement money.
Lead-Generation Mills Tied
to Shield, First Guardian Collapses
The
proposal builds on ASIC
ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the prime regulator in Australia for corporate, markets, financial services, and consumer credit. It is empowered under the financial service laws to facilitate, regulate, and enforce Australian financial laws. The Australian Commission was set up and is administered under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act of 2001. ASIC was initially the Australian Securities Commission based on the 1989 ASC Act. Initially, the
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the prime regulator in Australia for corporate, markets, financial services, and consumer credit. It is empowered under the financial service laws to facilitate, regulate, and enforce Australian financial laws. The Australian Commission was set up and is administered under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act of 2001. ASIC was initially the Australian Securities Commission based on the 1989 ASC Act. Initially, the
Read this Term's broader push against the referral networks that fed
investors into two of the highest-profile failures of Longo's term.
The
regulator has tied much of the activity around the Shield Master Fund and the First Guardian Master Fund to telemarketers and lead
generators that pushed customers to roll their superannuation into self-managed
funds before steering them into the now-frozen products.
Longo said
roughly A$421 million has been returned to investors in connection with those
two cases so far, with enforcement against trustees, advisers and referral
firms still working through the courts.
"If a
model thrives on pressure, opacity, or harm, ASIC will step in," he said,
signalling that the regulator's appetite for action against lead-generation
operators is not winding down with his term.
The push
also follows ASIC's public alert about cold-calling
super scams issued
last year, which told consumers to be on red alert for high-pressure switching
offers.
Longo's
argument is that consumer warnings alone do not work when the underlying
lead-generation business model remains legal.
“Watchdogs Need to Both
Bark and Bite”
Longo also
pushed back on suggestions in some industry quarters that ASIC should resolve
more matters quietly. "Watchdogs need to both bark and bite to be
effective," he said, defending the public-facing enforcement posture that
has defined his tenure.
"Confidence
is the true currency of the financial system," Longo added, arguing that
visible court action rather than private settlement
Settlement
Settlement in finance refers to the process when a buyer makes payment and receives the agreed-upon services or goods. The term is used on exchanges such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when security changes hands. When the asset is transferred and placed in the new buyer's name, it is considered settled. This process could take a few hours or several days after a trade is made. It depends on the clearance process. In the United States, the settlement date for marketable stocks is usually 2
Settlement in finance refers to the process when a buyer makes payment and receives the agreed-upon services or goods. The term is used on exchanges such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when security changes hands. When the asset is transferred and placed in the new buyer's name, it is considered settled. This process could take a few hours or several days after a trade is made. It depends on the clearance process. In the United States, the settlement date for marketable stocks is usually 2
Read this Term is what restores public
trust after large-scale misconduct.
The Chairman
recapped an enforcement build-out that has more than doubled the number of
formal investigations ASIC runs each year and roughly quadrupled the value of
penalties obtained.
About A$411
million in civil penalties has been secured so far in the current fiscal year,
following the regulator's record A$583 million returned to
consumers in the
second half of 2025.
AI and Agentic Tools
Reshape the Scam Threat
Online
fraud disruption was another running theme. ASIC has taken down close to 12,000
phishing and investment scam websites in the past year, building on a scam-site removal program that crossed 7,000 takedowns in the
previous fiscal year.
Longo
flagged agentic AI as the next pressure point for the regulator.
"No
one was talking about agentic AI 12 months ago," he said, predicting that
autonomous tools would push scam volumes higher rather than lower into 2026 by
lowering the cost of building convincing fake platforms at scale.
Sarah Court Takes Over in
June
Deputy
Chairwoman Sarah Court will succeed Longo when his term ends next month,
becoming the first woman to lead ASIC since the agency was established in
1991.
Court has
led several of the most prominent enforcement actions of the past two years,
including ASIC's A$250 million penalty case against ANZ and the Federal Court
proceedings tied to Shield Master Fund parties.
Longo, an
Italian-Australian lawyer who took the Chairman role in 2021, framed his
farewell as a handover rather than a wind-down.
He said the
agency will publish reports later this year on debt management, debt collection
and motor vehicle financing, three areas the commission has flagged as next
priorities under Court.
