A speech by Greg Medcraft, Chairman, ASIC, delivered at the ADC Forum Australian Leadership Retreat (Hayman Island, Australia) 30 May 2015
Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank the ADC for the opportunity to share my thinking with you on a topic dear to my heart. I’d like to make three points:
- one – to emphasise the opportunities for capital markets in supporting economic growth;
- two – to highlight some of the challenges the infrastructure and small-to-medium enterprise (SME) sectors are facing in accessing finance through capital markets; and
- three – to outline actionable solutions that might make capital markets a more effective and viable source of finance for both sectors.
I will make these comments as Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and as Chairman of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), providing a global perspective.
IOSCO brings together regulators from over 120 jurisdictions, including 29 from the Asia–Pacific region. It has emerged as the key global reference point for financial services and markets regulation. Because of this, and on behalf of the world’s markets regulators, I’m a member of the Financial Stability Board.
My main message today is that we need to:
- think creatively about how our capital markets can support economic growth; and
- recognise that one size does not fit all.
We need to experiment and take risks in market design and regulation to support capital markets in providing funding for the real economy, to support the growth our economy needs.