17 October 2017

Appointment of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Chair

I am pleased to announce that the Government intends to recommend to the Governor-General in Council that Mr James Shipton be appointed as the full-time Chair to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for a five-year period from 1 February 2018.

Mr Shipton brings wide regulatory and financial market knowledge to the position, as well as international experience. 

He is currently the Executive Director of the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. From 2013 to 2016 he was the Executive Director, Intermediaries Supervision and Licensing Division at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Prior to that he had extensive experience in various roles in investment banking in Asia and Europe and commenced his professional career as a solicitor in Australia. 

I look forward to Mr Shipton making a significant contribution to the important work of ASIC in promoting confidence in Australia’s financial system and protecting consumer interests as the incoming Chair.

I would also like to express my appreciation to Mr Greg Medcraft for his commitment over the past years to ASIC both as the Chair and as a member.

Mr Medcraft has overseen significant changes in ASIC’s role during his tenure, including reforms to improve the quality of financial advice and financial literacy, and the establishment of a national business names register.

Mr Peter Kell, the current Deputy Chair, will be the Acting Chair from the time Mr Medcraft’s term ends on 12 November 2017 to when Mr Shipton commences in February.

ASIC is the independent Australian Government body with responsibility for regulating Australian companies, financial markets, financial services organisations and professionals which deals with and advises on investments, superannuation, insurance, deposit taking and credit.

James Shipton Biography

James Shipton is currently leading a research centre at Harvard Law School where he is the Executive Director of the Program on International Financial Systems.

For the three years prior to his appointment in 2016, he was Executive Director and Commission Member at the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong – the equivalent of a Commissioner at ASIC. Whilst at the SFC he was Head of the Intermediaries Supervision and Licensing Division and had 250 staff report to him.

Prior to that he spent nine years at Goldman Sachs – five years as Head of Hedge Fund Consultancy and four years as Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs in the Asia Pacific.

Before that he was a Director of Eurekahedge Advisers and Managing Director of Compliance Asia, based in Singapore, and Vice President at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in both Hong Kong and London.

He started his career as a lawyer at Linklaters and Blake Dawson Waldron, and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and Monash University respectively.

Mr Shipton’s experience cuts across academia, regulation, the financial industry, and the law, spanning over 20 years. He brings wide regulatory and market knowledge, as well as international experience in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States.