ASIC’s record penalties expose the cost of weak controls

ASIC has delivered a $350 million warning about the cost of weak governance.

In the second half of 2025, the regulator secured a record $349.8 million in court-ordered civil penalties and announced $583 million in remediation, refunds and other payments connected to its work. ASIC also launched 123 investigations, completed 518 surveillances and recorded a 28% increase in misconduct reports compared with the previous six months [1].

For finance leaders, the message is bigger than any single enforcement action: governance cannot be a periodic exercise.

Policies, approvals and audits may look robust on paper, but their value depends on how consistently they operate in everyday decisions. When controls are fragmented across systems, teams and documents, exceptions can accumulate unnoticed. By the time a retrospective review identifies the pattern, the organisation may already be dealing with financial loss, remediation costs and damaged trust.

Effective governance needs to be continuous, visible and accountable, so emerging patterns can be identified before they become systemic.

ASIC’s results are a reminder that governance is strongest when issues become visible early. This is before they compound into financial loss, remediation and damaged trust.

RedOwl brings that principle into everyday financial operations by continuously reviewing transactions, surfacing exceptions and giving teams the context to act before money moves.

Move from retrospective review to real-time governance.

Sources

  1. ASIC, REP 829 ASIC enforcement and regulatory update: July to December 2025: https://www.asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/find-a-document/reports/rep-829-asic-enforcement-and-regulatory-update-july-to-december-2025