Australia, UK partner to procure well-regulated financial markets

Following its inaugural meeting in September 2025, the second UK-Australia Joint Financial Regulatory Forum took place this week, with Australia remaining vocal about placing greater emphasis on governance and asset valuation of private markets.

The virtual forum was once again attended by HM Treasury director general of financial services Gwyneth Nurse and Australian Treasury deputy secretary James Kelly, as well as representatives from ASIC, APRA and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

The conversation revolved around the structure of private markets, and the "growing significance" of super funds investing into the sector. Both sides agreed to continue sharing information on market developments, supervisory experience and emerging risks.

The UK shared its approach to monitoring potential vulnerabilities arising from private markets, including work to identify risks in the sector, as well as the constant supervision of investment fund managers, banks, and insurer exposed to private equity, private credit and funded reinsurance.

Meanwhile, Australia also provided insights on proposed reforms to improve data collection for managed investment schemes and regulatory visibility of the private credit sector, as well as APRA's focus on the valuation and governance practices of super funds.

The discussion offered an opportunity to learn from each other's experience, recognising the different regulatory frameworks and approaches in each jurisdiction, they said.

Further, the UK and Australia exchanged views on innovation initiatives including sandboxes. Both welcomed more dialogues and knowledge-sharing between authorities on emerging technologies and innovation to explore avenues for further cooperation on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the provision of financial advice, including on approaches to balancing access and consumer protection.

They also welcomed progress under the UK-Australia Investment Partnership Memorandum of Understanding as a practical framework for strengthening cross-border investment, sharing expertise and deepening links between UK pension funds and Australian super funds.

Additionally, both nations recognise the evolving cyber and operational risk landscape, including the challenges associated with reliance on third-party providers. It also considered how comparable regimes could support effective oversight while reducing unnecessary duplication for global providers.

The UK and Australia will aim to maintain engagement and take forward agreed actions ahead of the next forum, to be hosted in 2027.

At the previous forum, digital assets were a key discussion point. Since then, Australia has implemented requirements for digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms to obtain an AFSL and comply with consumer protection requirements.

New digital asset laws are also coming into effect in April next year, with ASIC kicking off a consultation to seek industry feedback about them earlier this month.