ASIC secures $830 million in civil penalties, drives $644 million in repayments to Australians

Traders Union
All News
Regulators
ASIC secures $830m penalties, $644m repayments

Highlights

ASIC secured $830 million in total civil penalties for the 2025-26 financial year, including $480 million from January to June 2026.
Enforcement actions resulted in $643.5 million in remediation and repayments to customers and investors, with nearly $40 million directly refunded to CFD investors.
Major penalties included $300 million against Union Standard International Group, $35 million each against HSBC Bank Australia and Macquarie Securities, and $26 million against Westpac.

Enforcement results across the 2025-26 year

As reported by ASIC, citing ASIC, the regulator has secured court orders totaling $830 million in civil penalties for the 2025-26 financial year, including $480 million from January to June 2026 after $350 million in the first half. In connection with its enforcement work, $643.5 million is being returned to tens of thousands of customers and investors through remediation, refunds and related payments.

The regulator says it launched more than 250 investigations from July 2025 to June 2026, while filing 32 new civil proceedings and commencing 18 new criminal prosecutions. It also records 25 criminal convictions, made up of 21 custodial sentences, including 11 individuals sentenced to imprisonment, as well as four non-custodial sentences, $12 million in infringement notices and $137,315 in criminal fines.

Major civil penalties include a record $300 million order against Union Standard International Group over contracts for difference misconduct affecting retail investors. Other cases include $35 million against HSBC Bank Australia for scam protection failures, $35 million against Macquarie Securities for systemic short-sale misreporting, $26 million against Westpac for failures in responding to hardship requests, $33.5 million against Walker Stores, Snaffle, for unlawful credit practices, and $10.3 million against Mercer Super for reporting failures.

Consumer repayments and broader market impact

ASIC says its work is also delivering direct repayments, including nearly $40 million in refunds to CFD investors. Following an ASIC investigation, HSBC has established a remediation program that has paid about $21.5 million in compensation so far, with further payments due before the end of July 2026, while the bank has also recovered and returned $6.5 million to customers.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court says the regulator is targeting misconduct that causes real harm, spanning scams, hardship failures, market infrastructure, superannuation, private credit, financial reporting and digital assets. The agency also points to recent criminal outcomes, including the resentencing of former fund manager Rodney Forrest to five years and three months in prison in May, the January sentencing of former adviser Anthony Torre to six years for fraud involving superannuation funds, and March prison sentences for Remedy Housing officials Brent Smith, Mahmoud Khodr and Fue Mano for dishonesty offences.

The figures suggest enforcement pressure remains elevated for Australia's financial sector, particularly where governance, reporting and consumer protection controls fall short. For banks, wealth managers and market operators, the scale of penalties and remediation now signals higher financial and reputational risks from compliance failures.

Our earlier article on U.S. retail traders’ shift into crypto perpetual futures explained how regulators cleared domestic platforms such as Kalshi and Coinbase to offer these highly leveraged products. We noted that while the change brings a large, fast-growing market onshore, critics warn that the structure of perps can accelerate liquidations and amplify losses for smaller investors—raising fresh questions about whether existing rules adequately protect consumers.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.