GRC Report Staff

ASIC secured a criminal conviction against Kristian Convery, a permanently disqualified SMSF auditor who continued to perform audits and falsified 47 audit reports using another auditor's credentials without consent. The case demonstrates ASIC's willingness to pursue criminal prosecution—not just civil penalties—against individuals who breach disqualification orders, underscoring the importance of robust auditor verification controls for firms engaging SMSF audit services.

ASIC has confirmed that its sector-wide no-action position for digital asset businesses expires on 30 September 2026, after which unlicensed firms risk civil and criminal penalties, including fines of up to 10% of annual turnover. Compliance teams at digital asset-related firms must urgently assess licensing status and submit AFS, Australian Market Licence, or CS facility licence applications before the deadline to avoid enforcement action.

ASIC successfully prosecuted CashnGo for embedding unfair contract terms in over 201,000 small amount credit contracts, resulting in a AUD $3.5 Million penalty and multiple contract terms being declared void. The case underscores ASIC's intensified scrutiny of the SACC sector and signals heightened enforcement risk for lenders using automated debt collection practices that strip consumers of control over their finances.

ASIC and APRA have published notes from joint roundtables held with superannuation fund CEOs in June 2026, covering frontier AI adoption, cyber and operational resilience, and crisis preparedness. While non-binding, these notes signal clear supervisory focus areas that superannuation trustees should expect to inform future guidance, surveillance, and enforcement priorities.

The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a public warning identifying VenturoFX as an unauthorized entity potentially offering financial services or products to UK consumers without the required permissions. Compliance teams should treat this as a clear indicator of ongoing unauthorized activity in the financial services space and ensure this firm is flagged across relevant screening and due diligence systems.

The FCA has issued a warning identifying "investnestglobal.com" as a clone firm fraudulently impersonating NEST Invest Limited, an FCA-authorized firm (FRN 913207). Compliance teams should note this as a reminder of ongoing clone firm risks targeting consumers and should ensure customer-facing staff and fraud monitoring systems are updated accordingly.

The Federal Reserve Board published independent research outlining an analytical framework for potentially incorporating tokenized deposits, tokenized money market funds, and GENIUS Act-compliant payment stablecoins into official U.S. monetary aggregates (M1/M2). While not policy, this signals the Fed's forward-looking posture on digital asset classification and foreshadows potential future data reporting requirements for banks, fund issuers, and stablecoin issuers.