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Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

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4.2
  • 1,000 - 50,000 employees

Julianne Hsu

7.00 AM

In the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we are advised to work from home for the safety of ourselves and the community. There is no rush to get dressed, prepare any meals or endure a lengthy commute. Consequently, there is no need (or desire) to set my alarm for 6am as I did at the beginning of my Graduate Program.

Instead, my alarm goes off at 7am. I make a cup of French earl grey and walk over to the living room couch, where I sit to reflect and mentally prepare for the day. I use this time to open the Microsoft Teams work chat on my work phone, take note of any meetings booked into my calendar, and respond to any outstanding queries that I missed the day before.

8.00 AM

I move over to the dining room table, which I have chosen as my workspace for today. In the mornings, I like to keep up to date with the latest industry news by skimming the daily media report and the digital replica of the Australian Financial Review (AFR). I also use this time to organise and file my emails. I then write up a list of priorities to tackle for the day

8.30 AM

A colleague has said good morning in the Legal & Policy (L&P) work chat, which kickstarts a chorus of morning greetings from the team. Although we can’t grab a coffee in person together, we can still check in on one another. We’re only a Microsoft Teams chat or call away!

After the virtual morning greetings, I get to work on a request for a legal opinion from the Exchange Intermediary Compliance team. We receive a number of internal requests for legal advice from the Market Integrity Group stakeholder teams every day.

This particular request relates to the potential failure of a Market Participant to comply with risk-based capital requirements. I research the relevant rules and set up a short Teams call with the Derivatives Market Surveillance team to better understand the nature of the financial product in question.

Following the call, I write up my legal advice and send the draft to my supervisor for review.

10.00 AM

I dial in to a scheduled Teams videoconference with a Senior Specialist at L&P who is coordinating a policy development project that I have been assigned to work on.

We are preparing to issue a consultation paper asking for submissions from interested stakeholders regarding our proposed amendments to certain market integrity rules made under the Corporations Act 2001.

We discuss the changes that need to be made to the current draft of the consultation paper, as well as the expected timeframes within which we need to have it finalised.

With the discussion still fresh in my mind, I get to work on the paper.

12.00 PM

I enjoy a quick lunch before heading out for my daily walk. During my walk, I call a fellow graduate (who is also on her lunch break) and we chat about what we’re working on in our respective teams and how we’re tracking more generally. It’s been difficult to stay connected with the other graduates during this work-from-home period, but we do make the effort where possible. We make plans to catch up again next week.

1.00 PM

Refreshed from my break, I tackle my next big project for the day – progressing the assessment of an application for relief. This application requests a waiver from certain provisions of the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Futures Markets). As the action officer, I draft the initial recommendation memo to go to my supervisor. I use the relevant ASIC guides, and make sure to carefully consider the facts outlined in the application alongside existing ASIC policy on the issue and any prior relief granted.

3.00 PM

I hop on a Teams videoconference with the rest of the graduates rotating in the wider Markets Supervision team. We have been put on a research project to investigate the impact of social media on retail investor behaviour, which is a timely initiative during this global pandemic.

The videoconference is productive and efficient. We discuss our ideas to progress the project, and by the end of the call, we have organised our action items and divided our workload.

4.30 PM

My supervisor has given me feedback on the draft legal advice I sent through this morning. I make the suggested changes and send off the final legal opinion to the stakeholder team to finalise the matter.

Now that my workload is lighter, I check the L&P inbox for any outstanding requests. I pick up another request for a legal opinion, this time from the Market Surveillance team, and seek a senior colleague within L&P to supervise me on the matter. I add it to my list of priorities for tomorrow.

5.00 PM

I complete my timesheets, and log off for the day. The graduates have organised a virtual games session this evening, but I still have time to pop by my local indoor bouldering gym before then!