ASIC has finalised amendments that bring modern algorithmic and AI-enabled trading risks directly into Australia’s securities and futures market-integrity rules. The rules commence on 18 March 2028 after an 18-month transition. A separate consultation on how ASIC explains those obligations closes on 5 November 2026.[1][2]
Participants can now plan against final legal obligations and a fixed commencement date. Feedback on Regulatory Guides 265 and 266 concerns the explanation and organisation of those obligations, rather than reopening the amended rules.[1][2]
Controls follow the systems that generate and route orders
Final market-integrity amendments
| Control area | Final change | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Technology scope | Rules are technology neutral and include algorithms using AI or machine learning. | A participant cannot treat an AI component as outside the control framework because it was supplied by a vendor or adapts over time.Source 1 |
| Testing and governance | Trading systems and algorithms must be tested, monitored and governed. | Model release, parameter changes and abnormal behaviour need accountable controls rather than only pre-launch coding checks.Source 1Source 3 |
| Manual and automated orders | Trading-system requirements are applied more consistently across order-generation methods. | A human-entered order and an algorithmic order should not fall into incompatible control regimes merely because the input path differs.Source 1 |
| Securities and futures | Standards are aligned more closely between the two markets. | Groups active across cash securities and derivatives can use a more consistent risk-control architecture.Source 1 |
| False or misleading appearance | The rule’s scope is clarified for AI-enabled and other trading activity that has the relevant effect. | A system’s lack of intent does not remove the need to control trading patterns capable of creating misleading market signals.Source 1 |
| Rule simplification | Redundant and overly prescriptive obligations are removed or clarified. | ASIC is combining stronger outcome controls with a shorter, more consistent rule and guidance structure.Source 1Source 2 |
ASIC’s framing places the market participant in a gatekeeper role. The broker or participant remains responsible for the behaviour of the systems through which its orders reach the market, even where strategy logic, software or data is supplied externally.[1]
The implementation timetable has two different tracks
Rules and guidance timeline
| Date | Instrument or step | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 27 August 2025 | CP 386 proposed amendments to trading-system and automated-trading obligations. | Consultation stage; comments closed in October 2025.Source 3 |
| 24 September 2026 | ASIC announced final market-integrity rule amendments. | Policy and rule amendments final.Source 1 |
| 5 November 2026, 5pm AEDT | Comments close on draft updates to RG 265 and RG 266. | Guidance wording remains open for feedback.Source 1Source 2 |
| 18 March 2028 | Amended rules commence. | Participants receive an 18-month transition period.Source 2 |
From a system inventory to intervention and change control
Implementation starts with identifying systems that influence orders, including vendor components and adaptive models. Testing then needs to account for changes in data, instruments and parameters, while live monitoring needs thresholds, escalation and authority to stop abnormal activity. These are practical applications of ASIC’s testing and governance approach; the release does not prescribe one universal technical architecture.[1][3]
The control map also needs to cover emergency manual routes and externally supplied algorithms. Otherwise, a fallback or vendor component can become a weak point in a system tested only along its normal automated path. Responsibility stays with the market participant, with controls calibrated to its systems and trading risks.[1]
Guidance is being consolidated into the securities and futures guides
The proposed guidance would move relevant material from RG 241 Electronic Trading into RG 265 for securities and RG 266 for futures, allowing RG 241 to be withdrawn. ASIC says the securities guidance would be reduced by almost 60%, with repetition removed and the two market guides aligned where appropriate.[1][2]
Sources & further reading
- ASIC strengthens AI trading safeguards and streamlines market integrity rules Australian Securities and Investments Commission · 24 Sep 2026 · Accessed 16 Oct 2026
- CS 63: Proposed updates to RG 265 and RG 266 and withdrawal of RG 241 Australian Securities and Investments Commission · 24 Sep 2026 · Accessed 16 Oct 2026
- CP 386: Proposed amendments to the ASIC market integrity rules — trading systems and automated trading Australian Securities and Investments Commission · 27 Aug 2025 · Accessed 16 Oct 2026