Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have reached formal agreement on the transfer of responsibility for the supervision of trading on ASX’s licensed financial markets. The transfer of responsibility is expected to take place on August 1, 2010.
Following the transfer of responsibility, ASIC will assume responsibility for the supervision of domestic licensed financial markets and for participants (including the relationship between participants and their clients) on those markets; ASX will retain responsibility for ensuring participants admitted to its market comply with its operating rules.
In conjunction with the transfer of responsibility 23 ASX staff will take up positions at ASIC. ASX said that the new arrangements will not change the existing oversight of listed entities or the obligations on ASX’s clearing and settlement facility operators.
However, ASX will be retaining a subsidiary company to fulfil the obligations of each of the licensed entities in the ASX Group to monitor and enforce compliance with the ASX operating rules after the transfer.
The name of the subsidiary will change to ASX Compliance, as the existing name ASX Markets Supervision will no longer properly describe the subsidiary’s role within the ASX Group or ASX’s ongoing obligations.
Kevin Lewis has been appointed to the role of group executive and chief compliance officer. He starts on July 19, 2010, and his role supersedes the group executive role that Eric Mayne has held in his five years with ASX.
Alan Cameron, a former chairman of ASIC, will remain chairman of the ASX Compliance subsidiary. As is presently the case, only one director on the board of ASX Compliance will also be a director of ASX.