Ban unlicensed communications says departing Longo

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

7 May 2026

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) outgoing chair, Joe Longo has urged a ban on unlicensed financial communications as part of the answer to a repeat of consumers losses generated by events such as Shield and First Guardian.

In what represented his last speech as chair of ASIC Longo appears to have brought not only so-called “finfluencers” into the frame but also journalists and others who communicate around financial products.

Addressing a Financial Counselling Australia Conference, Longo said “We wouldn’t let someone perform heart surgery just because they’ve watched a lot of E.R. – therefore we shouldn’t let people who aren’t qualified lure Australians into losing their life savings and turn a profit from it”

“In my view the most effective way to address this misconduct is to stop it at the source – and a ban on unlicenced communications would certainly go a long way to achieving that,” the ASIC chair said.

Longo pointed to artificial intelligence as having turbocharged online threats and argued that there was a need for trusted sources of guidance to reduce the risk of people being exploited by new technologies.

“There are of course always business models emerging that test the regulatory perimeter. Most recently, we have witnessed unscrupulous actors trying to exploit the significant pot of money in our superannuation system through what we suspect is industrial-scale misconduct,” he said. “Every day Australians who signed up for a free super check have instead lost their life savings.”

“We must disrupt the lead generation model that has enabled this conveyer belt of consumer harm to occur. One way to do it, from my personal view, and something the Government is consulting on, would be to ban unlicenced communications about superannuation.

“After all, super is one of the biggest assets many of us accumulate in our lifetimes – the people talking about it should be appropriately qualified.

“We wouldn’t let someone perform heart surgery just because they’ve watched a lot of E.R. – therefore we shouldn’t let people who aren’t qualified lure Australians into losing their life savings and turn a profit from it.”