Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commissioner Alan Kirkland has outlined the regulator’s response to the Shield and First Guardian collapse, setting out enforcement, surveillance, and sustainability reporting measures that may affect insurers’ roles as underwriters, superannuation partners, institutional investors, and AFS licensees.
Addressing the Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit in Canberra on Feb. 23, 2026, Kirkland described the Shield and First Guardian saga as a major focus for the regulator and a test of the sector’s conduct settings. “More than 11,000 people – ordinary people trying to set themselves up for retirement – invested over $1 billion in Shield and First Guardian. That’s why addressing the conduct that led to what we’ve seen there is one of ASIC’s biggest priorities,” Kirkland said. He set out a sequence of actions that began shortly after last year’s summit with interim orders freezing assets of the First Guardian Master Fund, responsible entity Falcon Capital, and director David Anderson, followed by search warrants executed with the Australian Federal Police in Victoria and Queensland.
Over the subsequent months ASIC:
According to Kirkland, ASIC now has 12 matters before the courts involving 21 defendants, including all four superannuation trustees associated with the products. Macquarie and Netwealth have admitted failures and, following ASIC’s work, have together returned $422 million to about 4,000 members. He characterised the investigations as among the most complex ASIC has undertaken, with nearly 50 staff working on 26 related investigations, and indicated that more actions are in the pipeline.
Kirkland linked the litigation program to a broader stream of surveillance targeting high‑risk superannuation switching and advice models that may affect insurance distribution and group risk arrangements. ASIC has used a series of thematic reviews to examine:
Read next: Explainer maps AFCA, ASIC, and CSLR complaint pathways
Most recently, ASIC has launched a review of financial advice licensees that rely on lead generation services. The review aims to map the use of lead generators, understand the contractual and control structures in place, and, where warranted, pursue enforcement or other disruptive measures. Kirkland said ASIC is also publishing a list of businesses, websites, authorised representatives, advisers, and licensees involved in lead generation on its Moneysmart website and is working with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and Super Consumers Australia to guide affected investors through complaint and redress options.
Drawing on lessons from Shield and First Guardian, Kirkland said ASIC is working with government on changes intended to tighten oversight of products and distribution channels. Proposals already released include enhanced governance for managed investment schemes, expanded data‑collection powers for retail schemes, and new obligations on super trustees to report suspicious or unusual switching patterns. The government has also signalled further consultation on options such as a waiting period to slow potentially high‑risk super-switching, additional platform governance requirements, and measures to address inappropriate lead generation and hawking practices. “We really welcome the priority that the government is placing on these reforms and the breadth of proposals that it is considering,” Kirkland said.
Kirkland used the speech to restate ASIC’s expectations of entities across the retirement and investment value chain, highlighting obligations that are directly relevant to insurers operating AFS licences or partnering with superannuation funds. “For licensees, that means acting efficiently, honestly, and fairly,” he said. For responsible entities and fund operators, he pointed to duties to act in the best interests of members. Platform operators are expected to perform obligations with reasonable care and diligence, and super trustees are expected to act in members’ best interests. “Advice licensees, advisers, and super trustees that have robust processes for ensuring compliance with these obligations have nothing to fear from ASIC. But those who don’t – especially where this results in widespread harm to consumers – should expect to encounter the full force of the law,” Kirkland said.
Kirkland’s remarks came shortly after ASIC published its Reporting and audit update – Issue 3, which sets out a series of developments in sustainability and financial reporting that have implications for insurers, super funds, and listed groups. As part of that update, ASIC announced eight sustainability reporting learning modules, developed with the Australian Accounting Standards Board, to help smaller companies and report preparers understand the new climate‑related disclosure regime in the Corporations Act. The modules cover:
Read next: ASIC outlines 2026 risks for insurers and financial markets
“We recognise many smaller companies may be concerned about what the sustainability reporting requirements mean for them. Our new educational materials are designed to help stakeholders identify the climate‑related risks and opportunities that may impact them. These foundational steps are key to meeting the sustainability reporting requirements,” ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke said. Interactive versions of the modules and accompanying workshops are planned for the first quarter of 2026, along with additional information for entities in reporting value chains, including small businesses and farmers.
The reporting and audit update also sets out ASIC’s recent sustainability reporting and audit relief decisions. In several cases, ASIC refused relief where proposed consolidated sustainability reporting structures did not align with the connected information principles in Australian Sustainability Reporting Standard AASB S2 or the consolidation requirements in AASB 10, or where entities had chosen to defer reporting rather than consolidate. ASIC is encouraging entities to review the public relief decisions register before lodging applications and to apply well ahead of statutory deadlines, stressing that its relief powers operate only prospectively and cannot address past non‑compliance.
From the 2025 reporting cycle, entities must lodge sustainability reports and associated auditors’ reports online using new Form 398 via ASIC’s portals, in addition to lodging financial and directors’ reports using Form 388. Voluntary sustainability reports and reports prepared as a condition of ASIC relief can also be submitted via Form 398 and will appear on ASIC’s public register. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Act 2025, temporary modified liability settings for “protected statements” in sustainability reports and related audit reports have been extended to voluntary sustainability reports and reports lodged under ASIC relief conditions. Assurance requirements and ASIC’s power to issue directions have also been broadened to cover those reports. ASIC plans to update Regulatory Guide 280 Sustainability reporting and its sustainability reporting FAQs to reflect the revised framework.
Separately, ASIC has issued infringement notices to 12 large proprietary companies for allegedly failing to lodge their FY24 audited financial reports on time, following a three‑month surveillance focused on non‑lodgement. O’Rourke said: “Large proprietary companies are legally obliged to provide financial reports to ensure that those dealing with these businesses can make informed decisions.” She urged directors to review their reporting obligations and reminded auditors to notify ASIC if they become aware, or suspect, that a company is not complying.
ASIC has identified financial reporting misconduct, including failures to lodge, as an enforcement priority for 2026 and is planning further surveillance. For AFS licensees, ASIC has updated Regulatory Guide 26 to reflect changes to processes for auditor removal and cessation. From June 16, 2025, AFS licensees and applicants must use the AFS licensing portal within the ASIC Regulatory Portal to seek consent to remove an auditor and to notify ASIC of auditor appointments or cessations. Applications for ASIC consent to resign as auditor of an AFS licensee continue to be made using Form FS08. For insurers, the combination of enforcement activity, reforms to super-switching oversight, and the emerging sustainability reporting regime points to closer scrutiny of advice, trustee, and disclosure practices, as well as potential changes in liability and claims trends in professional and financial lines.
