Scams and corporate governance failures continue to dominate the complaints landing on the corporate regulator's desk, according to new figures that carry implications for brokers navigating an increasingly scrutinised lending and advice landscape.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) received 9,807 reports of misconduct between 1 January and 30 June 2026, with retail investor issues and governance matters together accounting for more than four in five of all reports, the regulator said in a statement.
ASIC chair Sarah Court (pictured) noted the data "provides critical insights into the trending issues facing consumers and businesses, helping to inform our enforcement priorities."
For brokers, the sharpest signal in the data sits within the financial services and retail investors category, where credit issues made up 1,054 of the 5,657 reports, according to ASIC's underlying dataset.
Unlicensed lending and unregistered investment schemes remained the largest subcategory overall, at 1,951 reports, while scam-related conduct made up nearly one in five reports across the full dataset.
ASIC flagged that pump-and-dump scams are becoming more sophisticated, increasingly using fake celebrity endorsements to lure investors — a trend that has prompted the regulator to shut down an average of 230 investment scam websites each week during the period.
Away from scams, ASIC's other priority areas were closer to home for licensees: common concerns raised in reports included unlicensed financial services, governance failures and insolvency-related matters, along with failures by companies to provide books and records to liquidators. The data also shows 170 reports directly assisted existing surveillance or investigation matters, while 351 were linked to other reports and assessed together.
Court urged continued public reporting, saying tip-offs remain "a vital source of intelligence for ASIC, that help us identify consumer harm and to target resources where they will have the greatest deterrence and consumer benefit."
For mortgage brokers and advisers, the figures reinforce the value of steering clients toward licensed, verifiable lenders and advisers, particularly as scam tactics grow more convincing.
ASIC noted it secured a record $830 million in civil penalty orders in 2025–26, with $644 million returned to Australians, much of it stemming from public reports of misconduct.
The misconduct figures land alongside a broader push by the regulator: ASIC's 2026–27 Corporate Plan has flagged scams as a standing enforcement priority for the year ahead, alongside faster licensing turnaround times and sharper scrutiny of how AI is used in customer-facing financial services.
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