The Turnbull Government has today announced its formal response to the Senate Inquiry into White Collar Crime.
The Inquiry was established by the Government in 2015 to consider the inconsistencies and inadequacies of current criminal, civil and administrative penalties for corporate and financial misconduct or ‘white-collar crime’.
The Government considered the report’s recommendations alongside the recommendations of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce report, and has accepted the majority of the Senate report’s recommendations, specifically:
- to increase the availability of infringement notices,
- to increase civil penalties and allow the maximum civil penalty to be set by a multiple of benefit gained or loss avoided, and
- to allow for disgorgement of profits in civil proceedings.
The ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce made similar recommendations in its report, which the Government has also agreed to. The links to the Government’s responses to the Taskforce Report can be found on the Treasury website.
“The Turnbull Government is increasing penalties for corporate and financial misconduct to protect Australian consumers. These strong new penalties will both deter misconduct and also ensure that those who do engage in misconduct receive appropriately harsh punishment,” said the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP.
Minister O’Dwyer thanks all the members of the Senate Economics Reference Committee on their work in the Inquiry.
The Government’s full response to the Senate report is available on the Treasury website.