Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001

This is a compilation of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 that shows the text of the law as amended and in force on 23 June 2020.

  The objects of this Act are:

(a) to provide for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which will administer such laws of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory as conferring functions and powers under those laws on ASIC; and

(b) to provide for ASIC’s functions, powers and business; and

(d) to establish a Takeovers Panel, a Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board, a Financial Reporting Council, an Australian Accounting Standards Board, an Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.

(2) In performing its functions and exercising its powers, ASIC must strive to:

(a) maintain, facilitate and improve the performance of the financial system and the entities within that system in the interests of commercial certainty, reducing business costs, and the efficiency and development of the economy; and

(b) promote the confident and informed participation of investors and consumers in the financial system; and

(d) administer the laws that confer functions and powers on it effectively and with a minimum of procedural requirements; and

(e) receive, process and store, efficiently and quickly, the information given to ASIC under the laws that confer functions and powers on it; and

(f) ensure that information is available as soon as practicable for access by the public; and

(g) take whatever action it can take, and is necessary, in order to enforce and give effect to the laws of the Commonwealth that confer functions and powers on it.

(2A) Without limiting subsection (2), ASIC must consider the effects that the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers will have on competition in the financial system.

(3) This Act has an effect and is to be interpreted, accordingly.

It includes the following Parts:

Part 1—Preliminary

Part 2—Australian Securities and Investments Commission and consumer protection in relation to financial

Part 3—Investigations and information‑gathering

Part 4—ASIC’s business

Part 5—ASIC’s members

Part 6—ASIC’s staff

Part 7—Preventing conflicts of interest and misuse of information

Part 8—Finance and reporting requirements

Part 10—The Takeovers Panel

Part 11—Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board

Part 12—The Australian financial reporting system

Part 14—The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services

Part 15—Miscellaneous

Part 16—Transition from the old ASIC legislation

Part 17—Transitional provisions relating to the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004

Part 18—Transitional provisions relating to the Corporations Amendment (Corporate Reporting Reform) Act

Part 19—Transitional provisions relating to the Corporations Legislation Amendment (Audit Enhancement) Act 2012

Part 20—Transitional provisions relating to the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Act 2014

Part 21—Transitional provisions relating to the Corporations Legislation Amendment (Deregulatory and Other Measures) Act 2015

Part 22—Application provision relating to the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act

Part 23—Transitional provisions relating to the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016

Part 24—Application provision relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Act 2017

Part 25—Transitional provisions relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing ASIC’s Capabilities) Act 2018

Part 26—Transitional provisions relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (ASIC Governance) Act 2018

Part 26A—Application provisions relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Australian Consumer Law Review) Act 2018

Part 27—Application and transitional provisions relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Act 2019

Part 28—Transitional provisions relating to the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Stronger Regulators (2019 Measures)) Act 2020

Part 30—Application provisions relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No. 3) Act 2020