There is a new chairman of the panel dealing with disciplinary issues at the Australian regulator. The former chairman is stepping down after six years in the post.

Australia’s financial watchdog has appointed a new chairman of its markets disciplinary panel for a two-year term, effective from yesterday. The new chairman is Simon Gray. He takes the helm from Lisa Gray, who has led the panel for the past six years.

Simon Gray is deputy chief executive of Shaw and Partners and was the deputy chairman of the markets disciplinary panel at the regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. He is also a member of the ASIC market supervision advisory panel and of the ASX Appeal Tribunal. Gray has more than 15 years' experience with legal and compliance expertise in the industry including senior oversight of corporate finance.

The panel is a peer-review forum for disciplinary action against market participants and market operators for alleged breaches of ASIC's market integrity rules.

ASIC has been on a drive to raise standards in Australia’s wealth management industry, punishing malefactors and looking for improvements in the quality and objectivity of advice. For more on this topic, see this article here.

Cilla Boreham, another panel member, has been appointed deputy chairman, also for a two-year term, from 1 August.

ASIC set up the panel in 2010 to make decisions about whether to issue infringement notices or accept enforceable undertakings for alleged breaches of the ASIC market integrity rules. ASIC decides which matters are referred to the panel for determination.