The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will get new powers under the new Australian financial market infrastructure (FMI) laws.

Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) are the key entities that enable, facilitate, and support trading in Australia’s capital markets. FMIs include financial market operators, benchmark administrators, clearing and settlement (CS) facilities, and derivative trade repositories.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 strengthens the existing regulatory regime, ensuring ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) (together, the Regulators) have strong and dependable powers to monitor, manage and respond to risks related to FMIs.

The Bill will:

• introduce a crisis management and resolution regime;
• enhance ASIC and the RBA’s licensing, supervisory and enforcement powers, which will provide ASIC with more capacity to monitor the ongoing conduct of FMI entities, identify risks as they emerge, and take appropriate action to prevent those risks from escalating, and
• streamline and transfer roles and responsibilities between the Minister, ASIC and the RBA.

The Bill passed Parliament on 9 September 2024 and received Royal Assent on 17 September 2024.

ASIC will now plan and implement the new FMI regulatory regime and update its website with further publications and information, including the development of updated regulatory guidance to assist industry to comply with the enhanced regulatory framework for FMIs.