General Discussion Topics, page-142823

The whistleblower addressed the note to independent economist John Adams and ACP Research Director Robbie Barwick, who had accused ASIC of corruption in a 6 August 2024 episode of the ACP’s Citizens Insight program on YouTube, “The final battle in the great war against ASIC corruption”.

ASIC under siege; staff demoralisedHowever, evidence is mounting that, as pressure grows on ASIC, which Joe Longo and upper management are resisting with the government’s support, the rank and file ASIC staff, who know their job is law enforcement, are extremely demoralised and finding ways to speak out.
A recent ASIC staff survey, to which half of ASIC’s 2000 staff responded, was a stunning indictment of ASIC, with staff ranking “organisational-level quality” at an almost unbelievable 2 out of 100—almost not believable, but increasingly so.
ABC on 14 August reported revelations from a “veteran ASIC officer” that “Culture is the worst it has ever been, as evidenced by the survey. This is primarily due to senior executive leaders creating a culture of fear where people are too scared to provide feedback as we are called ‘negative’ and ‘annoying’.”

By design
The Bragg inquiry heard evidence from ASIC’s fellow regulators that effectively revealed ASIC’s law enforcement weakness and ineffectiveness were by design, at the insistence of a Treasury working for the major banks who are a law unto themselves and don’t want an effective regulator.

The banks are the equivalent of Al Capone’s Chicago mob, and ASIC is the Chicago Police Department who let them get away with murder because it is on the mob’s payroll.

In ASIC’s 26 years since it replaced the previous regulator, the Australian Securities Commission, the banks are the one sector that, conspicuously, has never complained about ASIC, except for a brief period following the 2018 banking royal commission when ASIC’s previous chairman did attempt to apply Commissioner’s Hayne’s directive that ASIC should step up law enforcement against them.

The result was the banks went on a credit strike, i.e. drastically reduced lending, to scare the government into stopping ASIC’s moves towards more law enforcement, which the government duly did, with the heads of both Treasury and the Reserve Bank leaning on ASIC to stop litigation against Westpac. . . . . . . .