ASIC report slams ASX culture, leadership, governance
The financial services regulator’s final report into the ASX has questioned its management and governance after years of operational bungles.
ASIC said trust broke down in the Australian Securities Exchange’s ability to operate efficiently due to a poor culture, ineffective management, unfocused governance, and organisational inertia that led to multiple operational blunders over the past years.
The financial services regulator delivered a damning final review into the ASX on Thursday, as the stock exchange operator agreed to deliver its ASX Accelerate Transformation plan in response by June 30.
ASIC’s chairman Joe Longo said the report’s findings confirm that the ASX required a radical overhaul to restore investor and counterparty confidence in its role as a national stock exchange operator and guarantor of trade settlements.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“I thank the Inquiry Panel for its work, which provided a circuit breaker for ASX and a clear path forward to rebuilding trust and confidence in this operator of critical markets infrastructure,” said Mr Longo.
“The further evidence and key observations in this Final Report support the scale of transformational change required at ASX to deliver on its stewardship of critical market infrastructure.”
Management, culture changes
In response to the report, ASX Chairman David Clarke said it was “tough reading” and insisted that it would redirect investment where necessary to meet its license obligations as its guidance for expense growth in financial year 2026 sits in a range between 20 per cent and 23 per cent.
“The [ASIC Inquiry] Panel found a culture that has become defensive and insular, where we don’t spend enough time looking outward,” said Mr Clarke. “That is not how we shape and steward the future of the exchange. Changing culture is harder than changing structures, and it takes longer, but it starts with recognising where we are and what must change.”
Over the six months to December 31, 2026, the ASX was forced to reduce its dividend payout ratio to 75 per cent from 85 per cent partly as ASIC forced it to hold an additional $150 million in capital as a buffer against potential operational mistakes.
On February 10, the securities exchange said its current chief executive Helen Lofthouse will depart in May, with a replacement leader yet to be named.
Ms Lofthouse took over in August 2022 after the exit of her predecessor Dominic Stevens, who oversaw a disastrous project to upgrade its CHESS trade clearing system with a blockchain technology.
After years of delays, in November 2022 the ASX admitted the project’s failure, with around $250 million invested down the drain.
In other bungles, in August 2025 the ASX announced that internet services provider TPG Telecom was buying an auto parts software business in an embarrassing mix up with private equity group TPG Capital Asia that shocked the market.
Other mistakes over the past 18 months left some stocks unable to trade for much of a day in December 2025, while another outage delayed the clearing and settlement of certain trades in December 2024.
ASX is being require to hold the $150 million in capital in reserve until the completion of targeted remediation goals on or before, June 2027.
