Opening address by Jeffrey Lucy AM Chairman ASIC, to the ASIC Summer School 2006, Sydney, 13 February 2006
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Good Afternoon. I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all today to ASIC's 11th Summer School.
This year, as a result of the work of the project team led by Mark Adams, ASIC's Director of Regulatory Policy, we are proud to be hosting our largest Summer School ever. You are each one of 210 participants. 36 of you join us from overseas and represent 15 countries – New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Vanuatu, Fiji Islands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. We are absolutely delighted that this Summer School has such a broad international focus and participation. I also welcome 28 colleagues within ASIC representing each of our directorates – Compliance, Consumer Protection, Enforcement, Operations and Regulation – from states and territories throughout Australia.
During the course of this week, you will each witness a wonderful program that highlights the broad framework in which many of us must operate. This framework recognises the separate roles of regulators, industry, consumers and other stakeholders like the media and is designed to maintain and enhance market confidence.
Our theme this year, therefore, is 'Maintaining Consumer Confidence: Regulation and its limits'. Why is this the theme we have chosen at this point in time? The answer, in my view, is clear. Regulation is a tool that has been used in most major jurisdictions in recent years against the backdrop of unprecedented economic growth worldwide. Historically, economic cycles suggest that a downturn will eventually follow. It is time, therefore, to consider the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation in this context.