IOSCO calls for cooperation against cross-border scams, greenwashing, misconduct, and fraud
“Regulators need effective resources, practices, tools, and techniques to promote consumer protection and market integrity, which is supported through participation in critical multilateral forums such as IOSCO.”
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a report calling for greater international collaboration and cooperation to combat cross-border scams, greenwashing, misconduct, and fraud.
The report was produced by IOSCO’s Retail Market Conduct Task Force, which is co-chaired by ASIC and the Central Bank of Ireland.
The document will inform ASIC’s strategic priorities on retail investor harms concerning crypto-assets, sustainable finance, scams, and Australia’s design and distribution obligation (DDO) laws.
“Challenges around the supervision and enforcement of cross-border regulatory issues”
Joe Longo, Chairman of ASIC, said: “Scams, misconduct, and harmful practices targeting retail investors do not respect borders. ASIC co-chaired the task force that wrote the report and supports recommendations to strengthen international cooperation to mitigate cross-border misconduct and share surveillance data and intelligence. In our own domestic experience, we see persistent challenges around the supervision and enforcement of cross-border regulatory issues that cannot be tackled by domestic regulatory bodies alone. Regulators need effective resources, practices, tools, and techniques to promote consumer protection and market integrity, which is supported through participation in critical multilateral forums such as IOSCO.”
The IOSCO report offers a global point-in-time view of the evolving retail trading environment, and outlines a suite of measures for regulators to consider involving:
- supervisory and enforcement issues emerging from cross-border offerings, and the need to enhance cooperation frameworks
- conduct and fraud implications emerging from recent crypto asset trading trends
- increased greenwashing risk and the need to better identify compliance with climate disclosure standards
- impact of social media and finfluencer activity on retail decisions and behaviour, and the need to heighten regulators’ digital presence and strategies
- the escalation in unlicensed activity and the surge in self-directed online trading.
IOSCO Task Force’s interim report in December 2020 outlined initial observations on the COVID-19 impact on firm and retail investor behavior, common regulatory challenges, and international approaches to dealing with these issues.
The following March 2022 Consultation Report provided insights from stakeholders including regulators, market participants, financial consumers, academics, and other international bodies to inform the Final Report.
