‘Record penalties’: ASIC clawed back millions in latter half of 2025

Financial watchdog ASIC has broken its own record for court-ordered civil penalties over a six month period after securing $349.8 million in the latter half of 2025.

In data released on Wednesday (25 February), the corporate regulator also revealed it had clawed back $583 million to Australians affected by financial misconduct including excessive bank fees and failed managed investment schemes.

After a “significant” 2025, ASIC chair Joe Longo flagged that the regulator’s enforcement actions would continue to ramp up in the year ahead.

“ASIC has secured record penalties in response to serious misconduct, and is protecting Australians and safeguarding trust and confidence in Australia’s financial system,” he said.

“While 2025 was a significant year, our work continues in intensity in the year ahead.”

The newly-released figures from ASIC revealed that from July to December 2025, the regulator launched 123 investigations, filed 23 new criminal proceedings, commenced 11 new criminal prosecutions and contributed to 17 criminal convictions.

The corporate watchdog secured a whopping $250 million combined penalty against ANZ for widespread misconduct and systemic risk failures, affecting 65,000 retail bank customers and the Australian government. This was the largest combined penalty ASIC had ever secured against a single entity.

Other hefty penalties were levied on Cbus, which landed $23.5 million for “serious failures” in processing members’ benefits and insurance claims. RAMS Financial Group got a $20 million penalty for compliance failures in arranging home loans, and NAB was ordered to pay $15.5 million for hardship failures impacting its customers alongside its subsidiary AFSH Nominees.

On Wednesday, ASIC also revealed it had seen an up-tick in misconduct reports over the second half of 2025, receiving 9,686 misconduct reports which raised 13,036 issues from July to December. This marked a 28 per cent increase in reports, compared to the six months prior.

The regulator partially attributed this jump to a June update to its website, which made it easier for Australians to lodge misconduct reports with ASIC.

Misconduct complaints were driven largely by corporate governance concerns (40 per cent), which included failures to provide company records, insolvency matters and shareholder issues.

“Reports of misconduct continue to be an important source of intelligence for ASIC,” deputy chair Sarah Court said.

“They help us identify key issues for consumers, investors and creditors, and guide our decisions on potential criminal and civil action.”