The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has called for consistency in penalties for white-collar crime.

Penalties currently vary depending on the act or jurisdiction under which an offence is committed.

In a submission to the Senate Economics References Committee inquiry into white-collar crime, ASIC says providing unlicensed financial services attracts a significantly lower maximum penalty than providing unlicensed credit services.

“Providing unlicensed financial services is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of $180,000 for a corporation and/or two years imprisonment,” the submission says.

“In contrast, the comparable provision in the National Credit Act relating to unlicensed credit services is both a criminal offence and a civil penalty offence, attracting a penalty of $1.8 million for a corporation.”

ASIC says the differences between civil and criminal penalties can influence the regulator’s decision whether to take matters to the courts.

“These inconsistencies may lead to some anomalous outcomes and can limit the responsiveness of our enforcement approach. If only a low civil penalty (or criminal penalty) would be available, this might be one factor weighing against taking this kind of action.”

ASIC says courts have tended to apply civil penalties well below the maximum permissible sum, and this is also creating inconsistencies.

“Legislated maximum penalties should be set… to take into account the worst cases, thus allowing reasonable penalties to be imposed in other cases.”

ASIC wants the inquiry to examine civil penalties under the Corporations Act, including possibly broadening infringement notices.