Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft has defended his role as the head of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, saying the body does important work fighting cyber crime and reforming capital markets. Mr Medcraft's chairmanship of IOSCO has drawn the ire of politicians and regulators, who say he should spend less time travelling overseas and concentrate on Australia's problems. Mr Medcraft set out the IOSCO's work in a letter to Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who also heads the Financial Stability Board. Established following the global financial crisis, the board is an adjunct of the Group of 20 and is tasked with co-ordinating world financial standards and regulations. Advertisement ''We see cyber crime as a key risk not only to the markets we regulate but to the stability of the global financial system,'' Mr Medcraft wrote in the letter, dated October 28.
