ASIC's chair has slammed Australia's penalties for white-collar crime, saying lax repurcussions make the country a "paradise for white-collar criminals".
Speaking at a business journalism awards lunch held yesterday by the Walkley Foundation, Medcraft said that Australia was behind its international peers when it came to sentencing for white-collar offences, News Ltd has reported.
"Civil penalties for white-collar offences are just not strong enough," he said.
Medcraft said civil penalties had not kept pace with inflation.
“In Australia we haven’t indexed penalties to inflation for 20 years. I mean, hello. In many cases all we do is give a slap on the wrist and it’s not discouraging bad behaviour."
Medcraft also told the public to be "extremely careful" dealing with financial planners, News Ltd reported.
