Mr Medcraft delivered a speech to the National Press Club yesterday in which he said metadata access is "critical" for ASIC when it comes to insider trading and market information.
ASIC was one of the organisations excluded from the list of agencies that will automatically be authorised to access metadata under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014, introduced to parliament on 30 October by attorney-general George Brandis and communications minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The corporate regulator is eager to retain access to metadata – which includes phone conversations and emails – considering the pressure it is under to identify white-collar crime.
Speaking at the Press Club, Mr Medcraft said ASIC would be making a submission to the PJC inquiry into the Telecommunications Bill emphasising ASIC's position as an enforcement agency.
"We believe the access to metadata isn’t just a white-collar criminal issue, it’s a national security issue," Mr Medcraft said.
He argued that superannuation fraud could be carried out by organised crime groups.
"[ASIC] should be classified as an enforcement agency under that [Telecommunications Bill]," he said.
