ASIC set to call out ‘unattractive’ private credit funds
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The news: The corporate regulator is gearing up to call out “unattractive” private credit funds next month, according to its chair.
The context: Speaking at King & Wood Mallesons’ Digital Future Summit 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair Joe Longo said the watchdog would likely publish a progress report in September on its surveillance of private credit.
“There's a lot of interest in private credit at the moment, with doing a major surveillance, we'll call out some practices we think are unattractive,” Longo said.
“We'll also be looking to market participants to suggest ways of better practices and standards… across a range of topics [such as] valuations, fees, disclosure, liquidity.”
Longo noted that the regulator was getting suggestions for standards of regulation from the wholesale sector. The watchdog will publish a report in November but Longo said he did not know "where we go from there. I think we will have some proposals that we will be consulting on".
"I'd be very surprised if ASIC stops its private-public markets work after November. But what that actually looks like? We'll have to wait and see where the resources of the commission are best utilised to solve problems that we've identified or ideas that have been put to us," he said.
What they said: “I don't want to be prescribing what those standards are... Our job is to encourage high standards in the sector in these practices, but I don't want to be the one prescribing them,” Longo said.
“So a lot of this is driven by the market and as the markets regulator, I see a role for us to know what's going on and to encourage good practices.
“And where the practices are illegal or unattractive then we will take enforcement action.”
The source: KWM Digital Future Summit 2025
