ASIC Says CFD Review Drove Nearly $40 Million in Retail Refunds

ASIC says a whole-of-industry review of Australia’s CFD sector has already pushed nearly $40 million back to more than 38,000 retail investors and forced broad compliance changes across licensed issuers. The regulator reviewed 52 CFD issuers between October 2024 and December 2025, focusing on how firms were distributing high-risk products and whether they were meeting design-and-distribution, reporting and product-intervention rules.

One of the sharper findings was that more than half the sector had contravened ASIC’s CFD product intervention order by offering “margin discounts” to retail clients who held opposing long and short CFD positions. ASIC said those investors faced higher funding costs while having no real path to profit from the offsetting trades.

The regulator also said 48 issuers changed their OTC derivative transaction reporting after the review identified more than 70 million erroneous reports. Across the sector, firms also updated target market determinations, website disclosures, onboarding questionnaires and monitoring processes for client trading outcomes.

Why it matters

This is a useful reminder that CFD regulation is no longer just about headline leverage caps. ASIC is focusing on product design, distribution logic and whether broker practices create bad outcomes even before a trade goes wrong.

What to watch next

ASIC’s current CFD product intervention order expires on 23 May 2027 unless it is remade. Traders and brokers should watch how aggressively the regulator uses this review to shape the next version of Australia’s CFD rulebook.