The Australian government has removed a significant hurdle which made it difficult for competitors to enter the excange market in Australia when they removed the ASX's powers of supervision over brokers and passed it to ASIC.

Liquidnet, Chi-X and AXE ECN are in the game.

Well anyone in the know can see why he's Gone-ski.

Australia's insider trading fairyland will no doubt continue with business as usual. Hundreds of company directors get a free pass for their previous insider trading.

Personally I'm amazed the punters still have any fantasy faith in the local stock market. Even with ASIC getting the big stick, insider trading is so widespread in Australia that no government has had the guts to wield the stick in the past and I don't expect it'll change in a hurry

I will try to be optimistic, but don't expect any real changes for a couple of years.

For instance I reported on the story which fleetingly appeared in the 'soon to pay for' press which suggested that about 100 senior Australian company directors could face charges.

Well that story disappeared like it never existed (as predicted). Unfortunately the insider trading didn't. We rarely see charges laid (I could only actually find a couple of instances) and they rarely seem to follow through, except in the case of Steve Vizard, an entertainer convicted of trading irregularities.

Perhaps there may have been some political funding at issue.

ps.

I add again another harsh fact.

The last government-funded study on insider trading (Australian Institute of Criminology 1991) was all bad news. So bad that someone seems to have buried (or everyone at least ignored it) it for nearly 20 years.

It was clear that the Oz market industry was like a wild west (in the words of the AIC report) 'casino'. Nearly two decades, with the industry policing itself. It makes you wonder. Is it so entrenched that to actually police it and prosecute would likely see the end of the industry?

Funny how the 'modern' newspapers never make much of it. It illustrates the quality of 'reporting' we've become used to.

As for the the government, at least they've passed the buck and I suppose everyone gets a free pass for the past.