• ASIC deputy chair Daniel Crennan has announced his resignation from the corporate regulator.
• It comes after an audit discovered Crennan had charged $70,000 for housing when relocating from Melbourne to Sydney.
• While no wrongdoing has been established and an investigation is ongoing, Crennan said he had “decided that it is in the best interests of ASIC for me to resign now”.
• ASIC chair James Shipton has stood aside while a proper investigation is completed.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Accustomed to keeping corporate Australia on its toes, the heads of regulator ASIC have found themselves embroiled in a scandal of their own.

On Friday, an investigation by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) found ASIC chair James Shipton and deputy Daniel Crennan had questions to answer after amassing $200,000 of expenses between them that “may have exceeded” official limits.

Crennan collected $70,000 from ASIC over a two year period for housing payments, after relocating from Melbourne to Sydney, where the regulator is based. On Monday, he released a statement revealing he would resign as a result.

“I had been intending to retire from my position in July 2021. However, in the current circumstances, I have decided that it is in the best interests of ASIC for me to resign now,” Crennan said.

“In order to ensure that ASIC’s important work is not disrupted, I will remain available to facilitate the orderly transfer of work to my successor. I wish the new Commissioner every future success as he or she continues the critical work that ASIC is assigned to undertake.”

The shock departure comes despite the fact that, according to Shipton, Crennan had requested those payments were stopped and agreed to repay them.

Shipton, meanwhile, decided on Friday he would step aside while a formal investigation is conducted into his own behaviour. He is being investigated after charging $118,557 to ASIC for personal tax advice involving his own relocation from the United States to Australia in 2018 when he took over as head of the regulator.

Like Crennan, Shipton also agreed to “voluntarily reimburse” the charges. No wrongdoing has been established for either man and investigations are ongoing.

“Whilst I believe that I have acted properly and appropriately in this matter, I hold myself to the highest possible standard,” Shipton said on Friday, stating both he and ASIC accept all the findings of the ANAO review.

More to come.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.