ASIC stands against obfuscation allegations in last-minute submission

As the Senate economics committee prepares to finalise its report, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has submitted a last-minute supplementary submission to reiterate its ongoing cooperation and transparency “without any intent to obfuscate or undermine the committee’s work”.

Throughout the inquiry, the corporate regulator has been repeatedly accused of obfuscation, with Liberal senator Andrew Bragg notably accusing the regulator exactly a year ago of being “addicted” to secrecy and obfuscation.

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ASIC has adamantly denied these allegations, reiterating in its latest submission that some questions posed by the inquiry pertained to “confidential investigations” and that, to “minimise harm to individuals”, the regulator had to invoke public interest immunity.

“This is a common position for law enforcement agencies and consistent with the approach taken by regulators in other oversight committees,” the regulator said.

“ASIC has not made these claims or raised objections with the intent to obfuscate or undermine the Inquiry.”

The regulator went on to say it has “always understood and acknowledged the important oversight role of Parliament and its committees over the affairs of ASIC, and its powers to conduct inquiries into matters of concern, to require the production of documents and to take evidence”.

“We have been as open and transparent with the inquiry as possible, given the sensitive nature of our work.”

Moreover, the regulator also addressed the committee’s interim report which rejected 11 of 13 claims for public interest immunity made by ASIC chair Joe Longo.

In the submission, ASIC maintained its claims of public interest immunity and other objections to protect ongoing investigations, confidential sources, and third parties’ reputations, emphasising that these actions were not intended to undermine the inquiry.

“We acknowledge that the committee has not accepted many of ASIC’s claims of public interest immunity and other objections raised.

“We have carefully considered the views of the committee expressed in the interim report. While we are respectful of the committee’s views, we consider it necessary to clarify matters raised by the committee in the interim report where ASIC believes that determinations made by the committee to reject claims of public interest immunity are not supported by the evidence.

“We consider we have provided sufficient particularisation of our claims of public interest immunity.”

The inquiry into ASIC’s capacity and capability to respond to reports of alleged misconduct began back in October 2022, with the final report due to be released this Thursday, 27 June. Throughout the inquiry, various concerns have emerged, ranging from corporate culture issues to regulatory challenges. In February, Bragg shared with the media his major takeaway, highlighting that “the structure is way too big and the culture is very sick”.