Joe Longo to step down as Australian Securities and Investments Commission chair

The boss of Australia’s top corporate regulator will step down at the end of his term in 2026 after just shy of five years in the role.

Joe Longo said on Friday that he would not seek another term as chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a position he has held since June 2021.

He will officially finish up with the watchdog in May next year and leave vacant a crucial role keeping corporate Australia in check.

Mr Longo said it had been “an immense privilege” to have served as chair and to have “been given the opportunity to rebuild and renew the agency”.

“When I accepted the position, I was clear ASIC needed to become a modern, confident and ambitious regulator,” he said.

“With the most significant organisational restructure in 15 years, new commissioners, a new CEO and refreshed senior executive team, I see that transformation is delivering dividends.”

Mr Longo took the helm of ASIC while it was still nursing reputational wounds from a royal commission that left the watchdog looking like it had not taken strong enough enforcement measures against misbehaving banks.

In a media interview after his appointment, Mr Longo professed to the Australian Financial Review: “I love litigation”.

And since then the number of investigations ASIC has undertaken has doubled under his tenure.

There has also been a 20 per cent lift in civil enforcement proceedings over the past five years.

On the to-do list in the coming months will be further enforcement work protecting Australia’s multi-trillion dollar, and growing, superannuation pool.

ASIC is also working on an independent review of the Australian Securities Exchange after a series of outages.

“And we will embark on the next stage of work we began in 2024, to simplify regulation to help tackle the productivity challenges Australia faces,” Mr Longo said.

The departing chair said he had informed Treasurer Jim Chalmers that he wouldn’t be seeking another term earlier this month.

The Perth-born silk was a partner at Parker & Parker (now Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer), before going on to become general counsel for Deutsche Bank in London and Hong Kong for 17 years. Mr Longo was ASIC’s national director of enforcement between 1996 and 2001.