ASIC announces three new commissioners

ASIC has appointed three new commissioners but there still hasn’t been a new deputy chair confirmed.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo in the Melbourne office. Picture: Ian Currie

Three new commissioners have been appointed to the corporate regulator, filling the void at the agency, but no new deputy chair has been confirmed.

In an announcement on Friday, the government said it would appoint a senior public servant, banker and consumer advocate to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

This will result in Treasury first assistant secretary Katherine O’Rourke, consumer group Choice’s chief executive Alan Kirkland and CBA executive Simone Constant joining ASIC.

Ms O’Rourke joins on September 11, while Mr Kirkland and Ms Constant will start their jobs at ASIC on November 20.

ASIC chair Joe Longo said the new commissioners brought exceptional experience and skills to the regulator “at a time of significant and complex change in our regulatory environment”.

“ASIC’s role is fundamental to protecting Australian consumers and investors while our economy navigates difficult challenges, including climate change, an ageing population and the rapid evolution of data technology,” he said.

The three commissioners will join ASIC after months of uncertainty surrounding the corporate regulator as several senior figures left. ASIC has also been subject to intense scrutiny over its handling of investigations and complaints in a parliamentary hearing.

ASIC commissioner Danielle Press was the latest commissioner from the corporate regulator to give notice of her resignation.

This came after Sean Hughes left in February this year, while Cathy Armour left ASIC in June last year.

Still to be replaced is ASIC deputy chair Karen Chester, who has confirmed she will not seek another term at the regulator.

Mr Longo said the new commissioners would join ASIC “as we embark on a program of work to become a leading data-­informed regulator”.

ASIC has just completed a restructure of the regulator that resulted in several units being amalgamated and senior figures leaving the agency.

Ms O’Rourke has previously worked at ASIC from 2003 to 2017. Mr Longo said Ms ­O’Rourke had “held leadership positions with responsibility for data and digital economic reforms, small business policy and regulatory frameworks governing market conduct”.

Mr Kirkland has led consumer group Choice for several years was “well known to ASIC through his membership of our ASIC consultative panel, and was a member of the panel for the Ramsay review, which recommended the establishment of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and Compensation Scheme of Last Resort,” Mr Longo said.

Ms Constant, CBA’s institutional bank and markets chief risk officer, is also a former deputy secretary at NSW Treasury.