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In this Funds Update for 6 March 2026:
- Treasury consultation on oversight and governance of managed investment schemes
- Treasury consultation on Unfair Contract Terms regime
- ASIC's enforcement update
Treasury consultation on oversight and governance of managed investment schemes
Treasury's consultation on proposed reforms to enhance the oversight and governance of managed investment schemes (MISs) following the high-profile collapse of the Shield and First Guardian funds, which we reported on in our funds alert of 20 February 2026, has now closed.
In HSF Kramer's submission we:
- discouraged a requirement that there be a majority of independent directors on responsible entity (RE) boards, in favour of the status quo where REs have the option of a board with a majority of external directors or a compliance committee with a majority of external members;
- were not in favour of additional and more detailed legislative requirements for compliance plans, preferring the flexibility and adaptability of the current approach;
- did not support the introduction of a prohibition on conducting related party transactions which would be particularly problematic for promoters of funds whose structures are dependent on the use of management agreements; and
- submitted that any additional data collection should be conditional on the benefits and uses of such a collection clearly being clearly established and outweighing the cost of collection.
A copy of our submission is available at here.
Treasury consultation on Unfair Contract Terms regime
On 24 February 2026, the Federal Government released a consultation paper reviewing the operation of the amendments to the unfair contract terms regime (UCT), introduced by the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 which took effect 9 November 2023. These amendments aimed to:
- enhance the range of remedies and enforcement powers, including civil penalties for contraventions of the UCT regime;
- expand the class of contracts that are covered by the UCT provisions, including by expanding the threshold for the definition of "small business" contract; and
- clarify and strengthen the UCT provisions more generally, including refining the test for determining whether a contract is a "standard form" contract.
The consultation seeks to ensure that the UCT amendments are working as intended, and to evaluate whether any changes are needed.
You can find the consultation paper here.
ASIC's enforcement update
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released its enforcement and regulatory update from July to December 2025 which reveals:
- Courts imposed civil penalties of $349.8 million (a six-month penalty amount record);
- 23 new civil proceedings were filed;
- $6.9 million in infringement notices and $137,315 in criminal fines were paid;
- 11 new criminal prosecutions were commenced, and 17 criminal convictions were recorded against individuals; and
- 123 investigations were launched and 518 surveillances were completed.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
