Australia's ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) records a landmark A$830 million civil penalty year against banks and financial firms, with HSBC, Westpac, and Macquarie among those fined

Australia's Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced that banks, superannuation (pension) funds, and financial services firms were collectively ordered to pay a record A$830 million in court-ordered civil penalties during the 2025-26 financial year, the highest annual total the regulator has achieved. The penalties covered a range of misconduct including scam protection failures, misreporting of short sales, and failures to respond to customer hardship requests. Among the named firms: HSBC Bank Australia paid A$35 million after admitting to scam protection failures that left more than 1,000 customers exposed to scam phone calls; Macquarie Securities paid A$35 million for systemic failures leading to misreporting of millions of short sales and inaccurate market data; and Westpac paid A$26 million for widespread failures in responding to customer hardship requests. The largest single penalty, A$300 million, was ordered against Union Standard for systemic unconscionable conduct affecting retail investors, though that firm has been in liquidation for six years and the penalty is considered unlikely to be recovered. ASIC Chair Sarah Court, who took over from Joe Longo in June 2026, described the enforcement focus as targeting 'misconduct that causes real harm' across scams, hardship failures, market infrastructure, private credit, financial reporting, and digital assets. ASIC also secured in refunds and compensation for affected customers and investors, and achieved 25 criminal convictions including 11 jail terms over the same period. Professor Jason Harris of the University of Sydney noted the positive enforcement trajectory but cautioned that the headline A$830 million figure needs to be set against the low probability of recovering the A$300 million Union Standard penalty.