ASIC’s enforcement priorities for 2025 – some new and some renewed

ASIC announces its enforcement priorities annually to indicate where it will direct its resources and expertise in the coming year.  On 14 November 2024, ASIC published its enforcement priorities for 2025 which were announced by ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court.

At the ASIC Annual Forum, Ms Court said that “all research points to cost-of-living pressures as the paramount issue of the time for Australians: our enforcement and compliance work through 2025 will reflect that reality.” ASIC’s enforcement priorities are a blend of new and renewed, with a particular focus on the conduct of superannuation funds, which have an outsize influence on the financial wellbeing of Australians.

New enforcement priorities for 2025

• Misconduct exploiting superannuation savings. Ms Court explained that ASIC has observed “disturbing scenarios involving the partial or complete loss” of superannuation balances, through poor advice from financial advisors.
• Licensee failures to have adequate cybersecurity protections. ASIC expects financial services licensees and credit licensees to have adequate cyber-security protections in place, along with appropriate oversight of those protections and supervision of information technology providers that important services are outsourced to.
• Failures by insurers to deal fairly and in good faith with their customers. Ms Court explained that ASIC will focus its efforts in 2025 on ensuring that insurers are transparent and accountable in communications regarding pricing, terms and discount offers. ASIC recently commenced proceedings against QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited for alleged misleading conduct in relation to the value of discounts offered on general insurance products.
• Debt management and debt collection misconduct. ASIC has signalled that against the backdrop of cost-of-living issues, ASIC will investigate and enforce against providers that fail to comply with obligations and consumer protections for the management and collection of debts.
• ASIC’s 2025 enforcement priorities also include:
• Auditor misconduct;
• Misconduct impacting small business and their creditors;
• Business models designed to avoid consumer credit protections;
• Unscrupulous property investment schemes; and
• Insider trading.

Existing priorities from 2024 renewed in 2025

• Misleading conduct including in relation to greenwashing. Greenwashing was an ASIC enforcement priority in 2023 and 2024, and is an area in which ASIC has had enforcement success in the past 12 months, including obtaining judgments against Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited, Vanguard Investments Australia and Aware Super for misleading representations regarding ESG credentials. We expect ASIC will continue to focus on investigating and taking enforcement action in relation to alleged greenwashing conduct in 2025. ASIC has suggested that its 2025 greenwashing focus will be broadened to include listed entities, managed funds and superannuation funds.
• Member service failures in the superannuation sector. Superannuation member service failures was also an ASIC enforcement priority in 2024 and ASIC has taken action over the prior 12 months including against Telstra Super for alleged failures to comply with IDR requirements, and the trustee of Construction and Building Unions Superannuation (CBUS) for alleged death and TPD insurance claims-handling failures. 
• Misconduct relating to used car financing. Misconduct relating to used car finance was also an enforcement priority for the regulator in 2024, and in 2025 ASIC is focussing on misconduct in relation to finance offered to vulnerable customers by lenders.
• ASIC’s “enduring priorities” also include:
• Governance and directors’ duties failures;
• Misconduct damaging market integrity including insider trading, continuous disclosure breaches and market manipulation;
• Misconduct impacting Indigenous Australians;
• Systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions resulting in widespread consumer harm;
• New or emerging conduct risks within the financial system; and
• Misconduct involving a high risk of significant consumer harm, particularly conduct affecting financially vulnerable customers.