Australia'scorporate regulator proposed today (Thursday) to replace its 42-page guidanceon sell-side research with an eight-page, principles-based document. TheAustralian Securities and Investments Commission said the rewrite should drawmore analyst coverage into initial public offerings and other capital raisings.Sell-sideresearch is the analysis investment banks and stockbrokers hand to clientsbefore they buy, including the notes circulated ahead of a float. ASIC wantsthe guide covering it stripped of prescription, part of a cleanup that hasalready removed more than 9,000 pages ofregulatory content.Analysts Get Closer toDeals as Pay Rules HoldThe draftkeeps the harder edges. Analyst pay cannot be tied to corporate advisoryrevenue, research teams stay physically and technologically separated fromadvisory and sales desks, and senior management sets research budgets with noadvisory input.Analystsalso cannot pitch for capital raising mandates unless they have beenwall-crossed, and once they are, they cannot publish on the issuer until thedeal completes. ASIC said its expectations onconflicts, inside information and research independence are unchanged.On analystinvolvement in live deals, the draft is direct about the cost. Firms needstrong controls and should "avoid them where possible," the documentsays of the conflicts created when analysts deal with advisory teams orissuers.Australia's Listings SlideSets the BackdropASIC hasspent 18 months on the shrinking public market. It published a discussion paperon public and private markets in February 2025, began a two-year fast-track IPOtrial that June, and set out a capital markets roadmap in November.Theregulator has also opened the listings business itself. Cboe won approval inlate 2025 to host IPOs and dual listings, ending the ASX's effective monopolyon new floats.Retailbrokerages sit in the pipeline ASIC is trying to fill. BlackBull Markets, theAuckland-based CFD firm, ran a non-deal roadshow withBarrenjoey, UBS and Forsyth Barr ahead of a possible listing in Sydney and Wellington.London Rewrote ItsResearch Rules FirstThe UK cameat the same problem from the payment side. The Financial Conduct Authority proposed letting asset managersbundle research and execution payments again in April 2024, unwinding part of the MiFID IIregime that forced research to be priced separately from trade execution.Londonrebuilt its listing rulebook in the same stretch. The FCA replaced the premium and standardsegments with a single listing category in July 2024.Simplificationprograms are running in parallel elsewhere. ASIC's progress report in May saidemail lodgement had expanded to 88 forms and that roughly 45,000 paper filings a yearhad been eliminated,while ESMA has said MiFID II disclosure rules were pushing retail investors outof capital markets.Two Consultations, OneMonth to RespondOne pieceis left open. ASIC asked for views on how valuation information appears ininvestor education reports, the analyst notes released before a prospectus islodged, and on whether corporate advisory teams should be allowed to fact checkdrafts.The draftbars advisory teams from that step, leaving it to compliance, legal advisersand the issuer with all valuations redacted. Anyone arguing for somethinglooser has been told to explain how it would support IPO activity and whatcontrols would come with it.A secondconsultation landed the same day. ASIC proposed remaking the instrument thatexempts low-volume financial markets from holding an Australian market licence,lifting the transaction value threshold to A$2.5 million (about $1.75 million)from A$1.5 million, a level untouched since 2016.Thatinstrument sunsets on October 1, the same date as two AFS licensing relief instrumentsthe regulator moved to preserve in May. Feedback on the low-volume paper closes onAugust 20, a day before submissions on the research guide.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.