Heavily redacted letter details Longo misstep

Efforts by the Senate Economics References Committee to obtain documentation from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has resulted in it receiving a heavily redacted letter relating to the conduct of the regulator’s chair, Joe Longo.

The letter relates a review undertaken by a Treasury deputy secretary, of Longo’s conduct in an “incident’ in August, last year.

The Treasury deputy secretary said that he had last year been asked by the secretary of the Treasury to review “the aftermath of an incident concerning the conduct of the Chairperson of ASIC on 18 August 2022 and provide assurance that the management of the process has been appropriate”.

His letter said that the deputy chairperson of ASIC, Sarah Court, had approach Treasury to “provide assurance that the management of the process by ASIC has been appropriate noting that, “This is because, as the Chairperson is the Accountable Authority for ASIC, she (Court) and other members and senior officers of ASIC believe it would be a conflict of interest to investigate or review the matter”.

The heavily redacted letter did not stipulate what, precisely had occurred, but said that the deputy secretary had been “provided with the complaint, the agenda of the 18 August, 2022, meeting of the ASIC Enforcement Committee and the ASIC Code of Conduct.

The letter then listed some conclusions including that “the handling of this matter was adequate in the circumstances” and noting that there was “no factual dispute about what occurred”.

It then went on to say: “The Chairperson has acknowledged the seriousness of his conduct, its potential to damage ASIC and his change agenda and its negative impact on ASIC officers. He apologised to the relevant officers both in person and through a general apology at the next ASIC Enforcement Committee meeting on 25 August 2022 (at which around 150 ASIC officers dialled in).”

“The Chairperson accepts that his approach on this occasion was wrong and, given his visibility as head of a national regulator, that it had much broader effects than he appreciated. He also acknowledges that this effect was amplified in an organisation undergoing change.”

The letter concludes on the note: “The Chairperson is highly aware that his future conduct will be a key determinant of the success of his change agenda”.