ASIC's 2026 enforcement priorities - what's on the corporate regulator's mind?

ASIC has announced its enforcement priorities for 2026, with private credit practices, financial reporting misconduct, insurance complaints and claims handling, and misleading pricing among the new areas of focus.  For businesses operating in Australia, understanding these priorities – and how they evolve from year to year - is essential to managing regulatory compliance and risk.

ASIC's Deputy Chair has emphasised that the priorities have been designed to protect consumers from financial harm against the broader context of cost-of-living pressures, particularly the emerging risks associated with private credit. 

Critically, ASIC’s enforcement activity has increased significantly: in the last twelve months, ASIC has doubled its investigations and has nearly doubled the number of new court proceedings it has commenced.  Businesses should expect that the regulator will continue to be highly active in investigative and court-based enforcement through 2026. 

We summarise the new enforcement priorities, and changes from last year, below.

The introduction of private credit to the 2026 enforcement priorities is an unsurprising inclusion given recent public statements on behalf of the regulator indicating its concern with poor practices in this part of the financial services sector and the connection to consumer cost-of-living pressures. Private credit continues to expand in Australia as traditional bank lending has tightened.

The priority of financial reporting misconduct, including failures to lodge financial reports, links to transparency concerns in private credit markets.  ASIC has noted that reliable financial information remains more important than ever, particularly as entities with unlisted assets, such as super funds and private credit funds, play a bigger role in the economy. 

On the other hand, the exclusion of greenwashing and ESG-related misconduct is an unexpected move – but the regulator will no doubt continue to monitor the market for potential breaches of these important prohibitions.

ASIC has elevated its investigation into the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds to a dedicated priority, with more than 40 ASIC staff continuing to investigate what has become one of ASIC's largest and most complex cases. The collapses affected approximately 11,800 Australians who invested retirement savings—6,000 in First Guardian and 5,800 in Shield.  ASIC has alleged asset mismanagement, misrepresentation of fund performance and misleading financial advice.

The enforcement priorities retain the six enduring priorities, representing the fundamental pillars of ASIC’s regulatory ambit and priorities.

1. Misconduct damaging market integrity including insider trading, continuous disclosure breaches and market manipulation.
2. Misconduct impacting First Nations people.
3. Misconduct involving a high risk of significant consumer harm particularly conduct targeting financially vulnerable consumers
4. Systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions resulting in widespread consumer harm.
5. New or emerging conduct risks within the financial system.
6. Governance and directors’ duties failures.

Takeaways

Businesses should take this opportunity to consider whether the 2026 enforcement priorities require them to make any changes to their compliance processes. In particular:

• Financial services providers should consider reviewing their pricing practices and disclosures to ensure they are not misleading, particularly in relation to products and services that impact consumers' cost of living.
• Private credit providers should ensure their practices comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, and consider updating procedures on responding to regulatory investigations, given ASIC's heightened focus on this sector.
• All entities should ensure they are meeting their financial reporting obligations in full and on time, particularly those with unlisted assets or complex structures.
• Insurers need to review their claims and complaint handling processes to ensure they are meeting customer expectations and regulatory requirements.
• Superannuation trustees should continue to focus on member services, as this remains a continuing priority.

Our expert team are available to discuss any concerns or questions you may have about this important update from ASIC.  Please get in touch anytime and we would be happy to assist.