I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Danielle Press and Mr Sean Hughes as full-time Members of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for a period of five years each.
Ms Press will bring broad corporate and specialist experience in superannuation to the Commission, having been CEO of the Myer Family Company from 2016 to 2017 and CEO of Equipsuper from 2010 to 2016. She has held various senior roles at UBS Global Asset Management including Deputy Head (Australia) from 2007 to 2010, Head of Institutional Business from 2005 to 2007 and Head of Strategic Planning (Alternative and Quantitative) from 2003 to 2005. Ms Press worked previously at SBC Asset Management and prior to that was an analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Economics with Honours from the University of Western Australia.
Mr Hughes is currently the Group General Counsel for Tabcorp. Before this, he was the Chief Risk and Legal Officer at UniSuper and, from 2010 to 2014, he was the former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Markets Authority in New Zealand. He was previously a Senior Executive at ASIC and has a deep knowledge of regulation. Mr Hughes also held leadership positions at National Australia Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and was a partner at the law firm Herbert Geer & Rundle (now Thompson Geer). He has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours both from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Law from Cambridge University.
The appointments of Ms Press and Mr Hughes build on the strong action already taken by the Government in strengthening ASIC’s capabilities by committing to a further $70.1 million in funding to support ASIC’s new strategic direction and appointing a second Deputy Chairperson, Daniel Crennan QC, with a focus on enforcement.
The Government has also announced that it will strengthen both criminal and civil penalties for corporate misconduct.
These appointments will boost the experience and capability of the Commission in relation to financial markets and regulation, including superannuation, and will contribute to the leadership necessary to support the Commission’s new strategic direction which will enhance its ability to detect and address misconduct in financial services and protect consumers.
