Asia Pacific Financial Regulatory Update Q1 2024

The start of 2024 saw regulators across the region consolidate their upcoming areas of focus. In Hong Kong SAR (HK SAR), the Securities and Futures Commission (HK SFC) highlighted a focus on maintaining market resilience, enhancing the competitiveness of HK SAR globally, leveraging technology to lead financial market transformation, and, like many regulators in AP and globally, enhancing institutional resilience (both operational and financial) and increasing operational efficiency. In other jurisdictions, regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released greater detail of their upcoming enforcement and supervisory priorities at a sector level. For the superannuation sector, ASIC’s focus for 2024 is centred on misconduct which may result in member services failures or a failure to protect member balances, and misleading conduct, including greenwashing.

Protecting consumers against harm by focusing on misconduct is a key theme for regulators across the AP region in 2024, with several regulators revising existing requirements to strengthen protections for consumers against misconduct and exploitation when dealing with financial institutions. For example, the National Financial Regulatory Authority (NFRA) in Mainland China recently revised the Administrative Measures for Consumer Finance Companies, introducing with it higher admission standards for consumer finance companies, and strengthening the protection of consumer rights and interests. In New Zealand, the Federal Government announced they would no longer repeal the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act, in recognition of the Act’s role in supporting “good financial outcomes for consumers” by imposing responsibilities on financial institutions to treat customers fairly.

Climate and sustainability remains another priority for AP regulators, with regulators focused on three key areas:

1. climate and sustainability disclosure,
2. helping firms identify and manage climate related risks, and 
3. reducing complexity surrounding sustainable finance initiatives to help accelerate the green transition towards net-zero.

Legislators and regulators across the AP region have continued to enhance and align their domestic climate and sustainability disclosure regimes and frameworks in Q1 2024, with several regulators affirming their commitment to adopt and develop climate and sustainability focused disclosure regimes (HK SAR), announcing legislation and/or guidance (Australia, Taiwan), or consultation packages (Philippines) to align their current regimes and frameworks to international standards, such as the upcoming International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) sustainability- (S1) and climate- (S2) related disclosure regimes.