ASIC’s latest funding blueprint has revealed another sizeable jump in the levy bill for credit intermediaries.
The corporate watchdog has released its 2025–26 Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) estimates, setting out how much it expects to claw back from each regulated subsector under the industry funding model.
For brokers and other credit intermediaries, the estimates confirm that levies will rise again in the next billing cycle, even before the final wash‑up of 2024–25 costs.
Under the draft numbers, ASIC expects to recover $9.74 million from the credit intermediary subsector in 2025–26, up from actual costs of $8.28 million in 2024–25.
That $1.44 million increase – a jump of 17 per cent – will be spread across 4,097 licence‑holding entities.
ASIC has flagged a minimum levy of $1,000 for each credit intermediary for the 2025–26 year, to be invoiced between January and March 2027 after the costs are finalised in December 2026.
On top of the base charge, the per‑representative component will step up from $89 in 2024–25 to $120 in 2025–26, meaning networks with large numbers of credit reps will feel the sharpest increase.
At a whole‑of‑market level, ASIC’s total estimated recoverable costs for 2025–26 stand at $400.5 million, compared with $337.6 million recovered in 2024–25 – a 19 per cent uplift in the overall industry funding take.
Enforcement push drives ‘material variance’
ASIC has singled out enforcement as the main reason levies are rising more quickly for the deposit‑taking and credit sector.
Explaining the jump, the regulator said: “The main driver for the material variance is that the estimated enforcement costs are higher than prior years. This is due to increased enforcement action and new matters arising.”
The CRIS also showed a marked step‑up across several program lines.
Supervision and surveillance work for the sector is budgeted at $2.23 million in 2025–26, up from $1.42 million in 2024–25.
Further, enforcement spending is expected to climb from $3.21 million to $4.69 million, while investment in digital, data, and technology is projected to rise from $1.09 million to $1.85 million.
These direct costs sit alongside broader activities – including industry engagement, education, guidance, and policy advice – and shared services such as commission and corporate legal support, strategy and communications, enabling services, and property and accommodation.
The higher levy estimates reflect a deliberate shift in ASIC’s enforcement posture over the past 12 months.
In outlining its 2026 enforcement priorities, ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said that over the last 12 months, the regulator had doubled the number of new investigations while nearly doubling the number of new matters filed in the Federal Court.
She said that ASIC was moving away from primarily administrative outcomes toward active prosecution.
Within credit, ASIC’s program has included the regulator’s information‑gathering exercise on mortgage broker files and its ongoing scrutiny of best interests duty (BID) compliance and a crackdown on predatory practices and hardship misconduct.
[Related: ASIC levies 37% higher than forecast]
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