ASIC’s former chair James Shipton joins share trading platform Superhero’s board

James Shipton will become a director at share trading and superannuation platform, a year after his tenure at the regulator was cut short over an expenses scandal.

Former ASIC chairman James Shipton will become a non-executive director of share trading and superannuation platform Superhero. Picture: Getty Images

James Shipton, the former chaiirman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, is re-entering corporate life and will join the board of trading platform Superhero one year after leaving the corporate regulator following a row over his personal expenses.

Mr Shipton, who would only describe his time at ASIC as a “rich experience”, has joined the board as the company prepares to launch in New Zealand and enter the volatile cryptocurrency market. “What really impresses me about Superhero is that there’s a lot of clunkiness in share trading, clearing and custody, and having technological solutions that come over the top of those legacy issues is where there’s real potential,” he told The Australian. “Superhero is really jumping on that and doing something about it.”

Since leaving ASIC in June, Mr Shipton said he had been working on philanthropic projects in the finance sector.

Corporate Australia, he said, had huge challenges in the sector, and he had welcomed the opportunity to “research, think, consult and meet some very interesting people”.

The Superhero appointment, however, was not a signpost to his professional future.

“I’ll deal with any other approaches on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

“But with Superhero there’s a number of things that I’ll bring to the board — ultimately these businesses are global even if they’re domestically focused, and I have an understanding of regulatory systems and strategy from my time at ASIC and the Hong Kong regulator.

“Also, and this has probably lost a bit in the mists of time, but I had nearly 10 years at Goldman Sachs in securities trading and custody and clearing.”

Superhero is chaired by leading commercial silk and former Zip Co chair Philip Crutchfield, who acted for ASIC under Mr Shipton’s tenure in its partially successful 2018 case against Westpac over the bank’s attempt to manipulate the bank bill swap rate.

He also led a legal team assembled by Mr Shipton in early 2021 to contest any move by then-Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to remove him as ASIC chairman without evidence that the expenses issue met the required standard of misbehaviour.

Mr Shipton had already stood aside in October 2020 pending the completion of an independent inquiry into the matter, which found there was no wrongdoing in his claim for $118,000 of tax advice from KPMG prior to his relocation for the ASIC job.

As part of a commercial settlement, he returned to the job for several months pending the recruitment of a successor — the incumbent Joe Longo.

On Monday, Mr Frydenberg conceded defeat in the inner-Melbourne seat of Kooyong to independent Monique Ryan.

Asked if he felt karma had played a role, Mr Shipton declined to comment, other than to say: “I watched the election with significant interest as the democratic process unfolded.”

“I’m just a civilian now.

“So again I would say that I had a very full and rich experience at ASIC, which has been my philosophical approach to experiences I also had at the Hong Kong regulator and Goldman Sachs.”

Mr Shipton declined to comment on whether he felt he had been undermined from within ASIC.

Superhero, which is backed by the founders of local buy now, pay later pioneers Afterpay (now owned by US group Block) and Zip Co, was founded by John Winters and Wayne Baskin in 2018.

The unlisted company has close to 200,000 investors since launching in September 2020 and has since rolled out a zero-brokerage US share-trading product and a superannuation offering, Superhero Super.

Mr Winters said Mr Shipton was a “fantastic” addition to the company.

“His extensive experience in financial services made him an ideal candidate to join our board as we continue to innovate and grow,” he said.

Superhero is well-capitalised, having raised $40m this year from the likes of Perennial Value Management, Regal Funds Management and Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investment Group, and $8m in 2021.

While not yet profitable, Mr Winter said the milestone was “not far off”.

The launch into NZ, expected in the next month or so, was the first stop in an international expansion strategy, and would enable NZ residents to invest in their local market and on the ASX.

Soon after, the group would go to market with its cryptocurrency offering.

Mr Winters said there was clearly “significant volatility” in crypto.

“Investors need to be mindful of the risks but it’s also a multi-billion if not a multi-trillion dollar industry now, so it’s a space that can’t be ignored,” he said.

“We want to bring it into an environment where you can diversify your portfolio across traditional and digital assets, but also educate people about how to build a diversified portfolio, make better financial decisions and understand the risks instead of handing them a loaded gun.

“We’re also seeing global investment banks going in just as retail investors are selling out, which is often a turning point when you look at historical market cycles.”