Invisible string

Simone Constant has spent most of her career working in financial services, with a particular focus on risk management. After studying law and economics at the University of Sydney, this seemed almost an inevitability.

"It's unsurprising that when you go through my career, and you look at what I studied, that I ended up as an ASIC commissioner," she jokes.

After graduating, Constant completed short stints in London, New York and San Francisco, holding various roles in law and investments, always "with a domestic anchor".

When she returned to Australian shores, she expanded her experience to working within government, taking on the role of deputy secretary in the NSW Department of Finance, then moving into NSW Treasury where she started really sinking her teeth into financial risk management.

Then, NAB came calling and with it chief risk officer roles across the corporate and institutional bank and consumer bank. This would set her up for the chief risk officer role at Commonwealth Bank for institutional banking and markets and treasury, where she stayed for about three years.

Constant says these past experiences have taught her many key skills, but particularly structured thinking; the ability to look at a situation and consider what is a fair outcome, how it comes together in the system and how to achieve it.

It was the experience across the financial services system that made her feel as though she was ready to take on the role of commissioner at ASIC when the opportunity arose.

"In all the different jobs, I've never done one as fast and as interesting, and where I think we can do something as significant and important for Australians," she says.

"And it's important we do it well in terms of getting that access and participation in the Australian financial services industry."

However, there is one role on Constant's CV that isn't like the others - in 2020 she took a four month secondment from NAB to join the NSW Department of Education, tasked with leading a COVID-19 taskforce.

"I spent some time in the education department as a deputy secretary because I deeply believe in the importance of offering education, certainly in Australia, she says.

"Access and participation are a common thread for me, having access, making use of access, and giving people access and participation to the good things about Australia."

In a sense, it's as though Constant was fated to end up at ASIC. She says the regulator's mandate, to promote confident and informed participation in the financial services system and to strive towards its constant improvement, is an "extraordinary opportunity".

"It's an extraordinary mandate for an organisation and in order to fulfill that, I think where I sit on the commission alongside the other four commissioners who just bring such excellent experience, it's actually like the combination of those different threads of experience I've had," she says.

"To draw on all of that and then learn something every single time we have an ASIC Com­mission meeting... because we have such a broad remit, is so important."

She admits that when she first saw the role at ASIC come up, her initial thought was, 'someone should do that'. But the joke was very quickly followed by a serious, 'I will do that'.

"I was so delighted [to get the job] and actually surprised at myself. Getting the opportunity is quite something, and the job has never disappointed," she says.

Constant stops short of saying she is proud of what she has achieved thus far, because "humility and not being complacent are important", but she has certainly felt fulfilled.

"We have been very busy, but it's been targeted. We have five core priorities right now ranging from improving consumer outcomes and financial products, right through to ensuring transparency and consistency in their outcomes across both public and private markets," she says.

"The way the commission has been working together, leveraging diverse skillsets, and the energy of the organisation to be delivering on so many fronts right from our thematic review work through to our crunchiest enforcement cases across the spectrum. I think we have been really putting in constructive energy, not just busy [energy]."

For instance, Constant is "quite pleased" with how the regulator's work concerning private markets is progressing.

"We put out some clear principles last year, we did very detailed surveillance and did a lot of expert work, and we do have some problems," she says.

"Private credit done well is great for those wanting to invest and great for those wanting capital, but it has not been consistently done well. If it's going to play such a big part from a system level and from an individual investor opportunity level, then it needs to be done well.

"So, [I'm] quite pleased with how that work is progressing, but every day we have to keep going because there is much more to be done."

The regulator is also determined not to just "let problems happen and creep up on us", with Constant saying there is a huge focus on data to understand market dynamics and where attention needs to be paid.

"We look to call things out in the moment, as well as going on with the work that might see us using our full enforcement toolkit," she says.

ASIC's work on death benefits and private credit are examples of this.

"We come forward when we see these things and say, 'this is what we've seen that's concerning us, you'll hear more from us later'. But we're expecting them to go and look at their own practices and see if they're meeting the grade," she says.

This approach is intended to encourage organisations to take responsibility for their own actions and serve as a warning that enforcement action will be coming.

"We have a broad remit, but we can't just let problems continue. We need to hold them to account for how they're meeting their obligations through to their end investor, their end member, their end customer, as we work our way through things," she says.

"So, that's one part of us being so busy, just making sure, at the right points, we are communicating and opening ourselves up about what's really on our minds."

But it doesn't come without scrutiny. In fact, Constant says it is expected and, in some instances, quite welcome.

"If you're in a role that matters and has impact you are going to be subject to scrutiny, whether from a board, a regulator, parliament, the public - and rightly so - or the media," Constant says.

"You always hear it. And sometimes it's okay to say, 'Actually, you've got a point, we need to listen', and learn what can be done differently."

She recalls the regulator being criticised last year for being part of 'flatlining' public markets.

"So, we opened a consultation and 100 folks wrote in to share what was going on. We have to do that because otherwise we'll stop representing the broader spectrum," she explains.

"We do need to focus and prioritise, that's why we have our core priorities... but we have always been open to hearing that feedback and triangulating it." fs