ASIC chair probed on governance review of regulator
The corporate regulator’s new chair, Joe Longo, has revealed that he has not read the unredacted version of the Dr Vivienne Thom report of the regulator’s governance.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair was probed by Labor’s Andrew Leigh during a parliamentary hearing who asked how many versions of the report Longo had read.
Longo said he had read the version that was publicly available.
“So, a report was done about problems in ASIC and you haven't read the full version on it?” Leigh asked.
Longo said: “Well, I've read enough from what was available, and obviously been very close to dealing with the recommendations that came out of that report. So that to me, is sufficient for present purposes.
“As part of my preparing for undertaking the role. It did not appear necessary for me to read any more than was publicly available, given the issues that were raised and the steps that would need to be taken to address those issues.
“I have not called for the unredacted version to be given to me nor was it suggested that I needed to see the unredacted version.”
The public version of the report was released in January, following the governance issues surrounded expenses of ASIC’s previous chair, James Shipton, and its previous deputy chair, Daniel Crennan.
The report recommended for significant improvements to ASIC’s internal practices, systems, and processes and in particular:
- The proper use and management of public resources;
- Systems of risk oversight and management;
- Systems of internal control; and
- Cooperation between ASIC officials.
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