ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission)

Definition

Australia's corporate, markets, and financial-services regulator, overseeing the ASX and company law, including the rules for employee share schemes.

Why it matters for a secondary

ASIC-administered company law is what an Australian employee tender like Canva's has to comply with, particularly the disclosure exemptions that let private companies run share sales without a full prospectus.

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How it works in practice

ASIC regulates Australian companies, financial services licensees and market conduct. Private share transfers run through the Corporations Act and the company's own constitution, while any intermediation, offer or advice requires the appropriate licence. Australia's employee share scheme rules also sit within this framework and shape how much employee stock exists to be sold in the first place.

A concrete illustration

An Australian technology company runs an employee liquidity event. The mechanics — who may participate, what disclosure is required, how the offer is structured — follow the Corporations Act and the ESS provisions, rather than being purely a matter of company policy.

What people most often get wrong

Australia has clearer rules and a deeper pool of employee-held equity than most of the region, which makes employee tender offers more feasible here — but 'feasible' still means a structured, documented process with disclosure obligations, not an informal arrangement between a company and its staff.