ASIC lands almost $200m in civil penalties

The corporate watchdog secured $189 million in civil penalties over the past year as it toughened its approach to enforcement.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's annual report released on Friday showed it had completed 46 civil actions (up from 37 the previous year) and begun 83 cases (up from 50).

As well, the watchdog increased new criminal litigation by 28 per cent and investigations had resulted in 29 convictions, including 10 people receiving jail sentences.

ASIC chair Joe Longo

"Across the financial year, ASIC made targeted interventions and implemented a number of relief measures to assist Australia's corporate sector, while also making great strides towards implementing the financial services royal commission reforms," he said.

The Hayne royal commission slammed regulators for failing to enforce the bounds of permissible behaviour, saying the misconduct either went unpunished or the consequences did not meet the seriousness of what occurred.

Mr Longo said ASIC had now finalised "much of the enforcement action" arising from the royal commission, as well as acted on recommended regulation and legal reforms.

The report noted six of Australia's largest banking and financial services institutions had paid, or offered to pay, a total of $1.86 billion in compensation to customers who suffered loss or detriment due to the "fee for no service" scandal identified by the royal commission.