ASIC has secured the highest six-monthly civil penalty total in its history and hundreds of millions of dollars in payments which will flow to Australians in connection with ASIC's work.
New figures reveal ASIC secured a record $349.8 million in court-ordered civil penalties in the second half of 2025 following successful cases against some of Australia's largest companies and super trustees including ANZ, NAB, Cbus, RAMS and Australian Unity Funds Management.
ASIC's work will also see a total of $583 million returned to millions of Australians through refunds from excessive bank fees after its Better and Beyond review and in payments in connection with investigations into the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund.
'ASIC has secured record penalties in response to serious misconduct, and is protecting Australians and safeguarding trust and confidence in Australia's financial system,' ASIC Chair Joe Longo said.
'Today, ASIC is one of the most active law enforcement agencies in the country. We are taking more cases to court, achieving record penalties, and protecting consumers.'
ASIC's criminal enforcement work has also helped hold those who broke Australia's financial services laws to account.
While the matter is subject to appeal, the Supreme Court of Western Australia sentenced West Australian fraudster Chris Marco to a 14-year term of imprisonment.
'This is the highest prison sentence imposed by an Australian court in relation to an ASIC criminal investigation,' the Chair said.
ASIC's enforcement and regulatory update from July to December 2025 also reveals:
- $349.8 million in civil penalties imposed by courts (a six-monthly record for ASIC)#
- $583 million delivered back to tens of thousands of customers and investors as part of remediation, refunds, and payments in connection with ASIC's work*
- 123 investigations were launched and 518 surveillances were completed
- 23 new civil proceedings were filed, 11 new criminal prosecutions were commenced, and 17 criminal convictions were recorded against individuals
- $6.9 million in infringement notices and $137,315 in criminal fines were paid
Some of the major civil penalties follow ASIC's successful enforcement action against:
- ANZ, which was ordered to pay $250 million in combined penalties for widespread misconduct and systemic risk failures affecting the Australian Government, taxpayers and almost 65,000 retail bank customers (the largest combined penalties ASIC has secured against a single entity)
- Cbus, which was ordered to pay $23.5 million for serious failures processing members' death benefits and insurance claims
- RAMS Financial Group, which was ordered to pay $20 million for compliance failures relating to arranging home loans
- NAB, which together with AFSH Nominees Pty Ltd was ordered to pay $15.5 million for hardship failures impacting its customers.
In connection with its work, ASIC also:
- Accepted court enforceable undertakings from Macquarie to pay $321 million to around 3,000 affected Shield Master Fund investors and from Netwealth to pay $101 million to more than 1,000 affected First Guardian Master Fund investors
- Secured refunds worth $161 million for millions of low-income Australians trapped in high fee accounts, including $68 million announced by Commonwealth Bank in December
- Successfully intervened in private proceedings between the liquidator of Libertas Financial Planning Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) and Sequoia Financial Pty Ltd, resulting in $975,000 being made available to support claims made by victims in the Sterling First collapse.
In addition to enforcement outcomes, ASIC continues to address regulatory complexity through its simplification work, has helped give direction to the future of Australia's financial markets through its public and private markets work, and announced a transformational package of reforms with the ASX to strengthen confidence in Australia's critical market infrastructure.
'While 2025 was a significant year, our work continues in intensity in the year ahead,' the Chair said.
ASIC today also released its six-monthly reports of misconduct (ROMs) data from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2025, which reveals a 28% increase in ROMs compared to the six months prior, driven by corporate governance concerns including failures to provide company records.
More information
- Report 829 ASIC enforcement and regulatory update: July to December 2025
- Summary of enforcement outcomes
Background
# The figure of $349.8 million reflects civil penalties ordered by courts between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025. It does not include proposed or agreed civil penalties that remain subject to court approval in 2026.
* The figure of $583 million reflects announcements in the reporting period in connection with ASIC's work. Payments may occur before or after the reporting period and totals may be updated as programs progress.
