The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will be homing in on the private credit sector in 2026 to improve governance practices.
Speaking at the ASIC Annual Forum today (13 November), ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said the regulator’s recent private credit fund surveillance report highlighted significant room for improvement.
“We are elevating our enforcement work on poor private credit practices,” Court said. “This new enforcement priority should send a message to the rapidly expanding private credit sector to get its governance right.”
Her comments come on the back of ASIC’s multiple investigations into collapsed investment schemes Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund.
“Indeed, the Shield and First Guardian schemes are examples of private credit fund models,” she added.
ASIC will also be increasing the spotlight on financial reporting misconduct, including failures to lodge financial reports.
“Financial reports provide shareholders, creditors and the public with important information to enable them to make informed decisions,” Court said.
“We have launched a surveillance focused on non-lodgement of financial reports by large proprietary companies, and we expect to complete this next year.”
Court added that ASIC is likely to see more civil penalties imposed in 2025 than ever before, subject to upcoming court decisions, alongside the longest term of imprisonment imposed following an ASIC investigation.
“Our enforcement momentum has continued to accelerate and we have more investigations, more actions and stronger outcomes – delivering timely, visible, and deterrence driven enforcement,” she said.
“We have worked intensively on increasing our investigation numbers, with the aim to consider more matters, review them more quickly and, if there is no further work to do, to close them promptly to allow resources to move elsewhere.”
