Treasury dismisses Longo’s concerns over ASIC’s depleted litigation war chest
In his final appearance in Parliament as ASIC chair, Joe Longo warned the regulator was running on empty. The message has fallen on deaf ears.
Treasury has brushed off concerns raised by former ASIC chair Joe Longo that the regulator risks running out of resources to pursue tough cases, insisting the body is adequately funded to punish serious corporate misconduct.
Despite Longo’s plea in May for an urgent funding top-up at the end of ASIC’s most successful year in court, Treasury told Capital Brief there were no funding concerns around the corporate regulator.
“ASIC continues to be well funded to fulfil its responsibilities as Australia’s independent integrated corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator,” a spokesperson said.
The response is in stark contrast to Longo’s final address to Parliament, where he observed that ASIC’s enforcement success had “significantly eroded the cash balance” of its Enforcement Special Account (ESA) which allows the corporate cop to take on major litigation and absorb tail risks and potential court losses.
