Australian equity markets have seen just two deterioration in market cleanliness over the past five years, according to a recent ASIC report, “continu[ing] to operate with a high level of integrity and remain[ing] consistently among the cleanest in the world”.
These incidents, namely increased trading and market volatility during the Covid-19 pandemic and increased corporate activity in late 2023, reduced market cleanliness temporarily before being stabilised by ASIC’s actions.
The commission used a range of regulatory interventions, employing real-time trade surveillance data, analytical tools and human expertise to carry out activities including chat room interventions, targeted reviews of leaked information and observing finfluencer activity, to address these issues.
The number of new insider trading investigations launched by ASIC in the past five years has almost doubled, the commission stated. A dedicated criminal justice investigation team is being established to more efficiently progress insider trading investigations and increase the number of briefs referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, it added.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Joe Longo, chair of ASIC, said: “Clean financial markets are essential for the financial wellbeing of Australians and fundamental to an efficient economy. They enable businesses to raise capital and manage risk and give investors confidence to invest.
“Protecting and enhancing the integrity of Australia’s equity markets continues to be a priority focus for ASIC. We will continue to invest in data and technology to hunt and detect all forms of market misconduct. As our financial landscape evolves we will expand our market cleanliness work to capture private markets and products in the coming year.”
©Markets Media Europe 2024
