By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY--Australia's stock-exchange operator compromised the resilience of critical market infrastructure due to its focus on rewarding shareholders, the country's securities regulator said.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Thursday said ASX had failed to focus sufficiently on infrastructure. ASX lacked the aspiration to be a steward of such infrastructure, the regulator added.
"Resilience of critical market infrastructure has been compromised to deliver high shareholder returns," ASIC said in a statement.
An ASIC-commissioned panel that includes a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia delivered the verdict in its final report into multiple failings and breakdowns at ASX, which runs the exchange on which its own shares are traded.
A 2025 interim report from the panel already said that ASX had underinvested in the resilience and security of its infrastructure.
ASIC said that ASX has to hold 150 million Australian dollars, equivalent to US$103.9 million, until it is satisfied with the outcome of the strategic reset it has promised. ASIC had previously said ASX would hold the capital until June 30, 2027.
ASIC, which is also suing ASX over allegations that it made misleading statements related to a long-running and much-delayed overhaul of its clearing and settlement systems, commissioned the inquiry in July due to issues including multiple outages.
Following the interim report, ASX said it would cut its dividend payout target range to 75-85% of underlying profit, from 80-90%, and that its dividend would be at the bottom end of the range for the next three payouts.
On Thursday, ASX Chair David Clarke acknowledged the inquiry's conclusion that the stock-market operator's culture had become defensive and insular.
"Changing culture is harder than changing structures, and it takes longer, but it starts with recognizing where we are and what must change," Clarke said.
Excluding costs related to the inquiry, ASX raised its expense growth guidance for its current fiscal year to between 13% and 15% compared with fiscal 2025. It had previously flagged a rise of between 8% and 11%.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2026 19:05 ET (23:05 GMT)
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