A speech by Greg Medcraft, Chairman, Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the Stockbrokers Association of Australia (SAA) Annual Conference, 30 May 2014
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Introduction
We are living in a time of rapid innovation and change, and this is only likely to increase.
Change brings opportunity, but also risk.
This rings true for our financial services and markets. Market-based financing is seen as a key source of funding economic growth in the coming decades. The growth of superannuation, digitisation of the economy and globalisation are also driving changes – creating new opportunities and risks.
ASIC’s challenges
In this age of innovation, the key external challenges I see for ASIC are:
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balancing growth and stability with a particular focus on deregulation structural change in our financial system through the growth of market-based financing and superannuation
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financial innovation-driven complexity in products, markets and technology – which is what I will be focusing on today, and
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globalisation.
While these are all challenges, they also present opportunities to fund economic growth. We need to continue working together to harvest the opportunities while mitigating the risks.
So how does ASIC carry out our role in the face of these four key challenges?