½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþ

speech

Financial innovation driven complexity Creating a dynamic landscape -speech

Published

A speech by Greg Medcraft, Chairman, ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþ to the Stockbrokers Association of Australia (SAA) Annual Conference, 30 May 2014

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Introduction

We are living in a time of rapid innovation and change, and this is only likely to increase.

Change brings opportunity, but also risk.

This rings true for our financial services and markets. Market-based financing is seen as a key source of funding economic growth in the coming decades. The growth of superannuation, digitisation of the economy and globalisation are also driving changes – creating new opportunities and risks.

ASIC’s challenges

In this age of innovation, the key external challenges I see for ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþare:

  • balancing growth and stability with a particular focus on deregulation structural change in our financial system through the growth of market-based financing and superannuation

  • financial innovation-driven complexity in products, markets and technology – which is what I will be focusing on today, and

  • globalisation.

While these are all challenges, they also present opportunities to fund economic growth. We need to continue working together to harvest the opportunities while mitigating the risks.

So how does ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþcarry out our role in the face of these four key challenges?