The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) collected $85.2 million in fines last financial year, down slightly from $85.3 million.

Fees collected in the year totalled $632 million, up from the $577 million the previous year.

At June 30 there were 5043 Australian financial services licences issued, up from 4955 a year earlier, according to the annual report.

There were drops in the number of people jailed following its action – to nine from 20 – and the number of court cases concluded, to 144 from 179.

Reports of misconduct fell to 11,682 from 12,516 the previous year, and the number of people banned from the financial services industry dropped to 50 from 54.

Chairman Greg Medcraft says the regulator’s jurisdiction has grown considerably in recent years and includes the ever-expanding super industry.

“A key challenge for ASIC is to manage the increased workload resulting from more stakeholders and more products while retaining an effective, proactive and forward-looking approach, which is essential if the system is to remain resilient.

“To maintain our proactive approach, our resources need to be adequate – and appropriately deployed.”

Mr Medcraft says the regulator will continue to seek improved product disclosure, to reduce the risk of complex offerings being mis-sold. E-learning modules may be introduced to help investors make more educated decisions.