http://www.asc.gov.

au - Australian Securities & Investment Commission ASIC at a glance

Our role The Australian Securities and Investments Commission enforces and regulates company and financial services laws to protect consumers, investors and creditors. We keep the public informed of these matters through media releases and our annual report. Find out more about our consumer role at FIDO, our website for consumers and investors The Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 requires us to: uphold the law uniformly, effectively and quickly promote confident and informed participation by investors and consumers in the financial system make information about companies and other bodies available to the public improve the performance of the financial system and the entities within it.

Our role Who we regulate How we operate Our staff Our budget History Highlights from our 2002-03 annual report ASIC annual reports

More about the laws we administer

Who we regulate We regulate Australian companies, financial markets, financial services organisations and professionals who deal and advise in investments, superannuation, insurance, deposit taking and credit. For more information about who we regulate and how we do it see page 13 of our Annual Report 2002-03 (PDF file, 41KB)

Find out more about our responsibilites for overseeing market conduct and consumer protection issues on credit
How we operate We are an independent Commonwealth government body, operating under the direction of three full time Commissioners appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Treasurer. We report to the Commonwealth Parliament, the Treasurer and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer. Our staff We employed an average of 1396 full time equivalent staff around Australia in 2002-03. Our budget In 2002-03, funded through the budget, our operating expenses totalled $172.6 million, our operating revenue $172.5 million and we collected $405 million revenue for the Commonwealth. History Established by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 1989 Commenced 1 January 1991 as the Australian Securities Commission (ASC) replacing the National Companies and Securities Commission (NCSC) and the Corporate Affairs offices of the States and Territories