asic says opes collapse not its fault

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23665270-5003402,00.html

THE head of the corporate watchdog has rejected accusations it didn't do enough to identify and alert investors to the woes of collapsed broker Opes Prime.

"I really don't think there's any basis for the statement that what's occurred with Opes Prime and some of the other issues that have occurred in the market (are) regulatory driven,'' Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chairman Tony D'Aloisio said.

"You need to understand that at the end of the day that CEOs, directors, design business models, people buy them.

"So in a sense there's a responsibility at that level when some of these collapses occur, and at this stage there is in my mind no real evidence that this was regulatory failure.''

ASIC today announced it would appoint an external advisory panel to advise it on market developments, cut senior management positions to 41 from 54 and devote more resources to supervising traders.

Mr D'Aloisio said plans for the restructure preceded the current volatility in share markets.

He said ASIC had not identified any need to recommend changes to the law with regard to short selling, stock lending or margin lending.