By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY, May 27 (Reuters) - Australia needs to overhaul complex regulations to boost innovation and revive its dwindling IPO pipeline, the country's outgoing top corporate regulator said, warning that red tape was stifling startups and deterring public listings.
"Australia has, with good intent, added to the complexity, so the legislation now is almost impenetrable," said Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Chair Joe Longo, who ends his five-year term on Friday.
"We have a problem and at the moment the strategy is to get the regulators to try and administer the law more effectively, efficiently, simply not make it worse than it needs to be," Longo told Reuters. "But I think we're not good at law reform."
Australia is seeking to lift productivity, attract foreign capital and support startups, but an overly complex regulatory environment can raise compliance costs, delay decision-making and deter new entrants, bankers and lawyers have said.
The country's Corporations Act, administered by ASIC, is more than 3,300 pages long and has been criticised by bankers and lawyers as too burdensome.
ASIC oversees companies, financial markets and consumer credit regulation.
Reviving the country's capital markets has been a major focus for ASIC under Longo's leadership. Key initiatives included cutting one week from the typical 20-week company listing process.
Still, there were just $11 million worth of IPOs in Australia in the first quarter, one of the lowest levels since the global financial crisis in 2008, according to LSEG data.
Australia's IPO market, while up from early 2025 when there were no listings, is well below its peak in the first quarter of 2021 when companies raised $542.2 million.
ASIC has urged the government and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to consider lighter disclosure rules and easing some public company listing requirements to spur more new share sales.
"We have done a lot of work on this and the consistent feedback we got is there wasn't much more ASIC itself could do," said Longo, who will be replaced by the regulator's Deputy Chair Sarah Court.
"I think our regulatory architecture is in pretty good shape, and I think that's respected and acknowledged outside of the country," he said. "Where I think we're on more challenging ground ... is we do have a problem with regulatory complexity."
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
