About

Spotlight on: Johanna O’Rourke

As the group general counsel and company secretary of ASX Limited, I am a valued member of the ASX executive team, responsible for ASX’s legal, company secretarial, government affairs and regulatory policy functions. My advice is sought out across the organisation not just for legal matters, but also for discussion and debate over critical business issues.

I joined ASX in January 2021 as deputy general counsel, working across ASX’s business and functional lines with a particular focus on ASX’s corporate, strategy, technology and data, listings and issuer functions. In this role, I quickly developed a reputation as a business-savvy legal advisor on a range of business issues and strategies, providing creative solutions to complex problems. Prior to joining ASX, I was general counsel (commercial and technology) at QBE Insurance Group. I have 20 years’ experience practising law in-house and in top tier law firms in New York and Australia.

An opportunity arose for me to take the role of acting general counsel and company secretary of ASX in October 2022. My credibility with ASX’s executive team and board developed in the following months as I was able to demonstrate strong leadership skills, strategic decision-making capabilities that deliver shareholder value, creative thinking and valuable people skills. I was permanently appointed to the role of general counsel and company secretary of ASX in January 2023.

ASX is a dynamic organisation with a very clear sense of mission and purpose. Our lawyers and regulatory professionals bring top tier technology, data, litigation and financial regulation expertise to a small but exceptionally capable and highly engaged team of specialists.

Recruitment and retention of talent are ongoing challenges for in-house legal teams. Fortunately, at ASX, the quality of work that the legal team is involved in, and the calibre of the team overall, has helped us to recruit strongly across the year during a period when lawyers can be selective about where they choose to work. In addition, I have successfully developed a government and regulatory affairs team to work collaboratively with and complement our legal team.

We provide high quality, tailored and commercially-minded legal services to support ASX, a highly regulated provider of critical national market infrastructure. Our legal team works on a diverse range of complex and time-critical matters to ensure that ASX can fulfil its unique role as an integrated exchange offering listings, trading, clearing, settlement, technical and information services, technology, data and other post-trade services. We play a key role in ensuring that ASX is able to meet obligations under our core business licenses and provide confidence to market participants, investors and regulators. ASX’s services impact millions of retail investors, which underpins confidence in Australian financial markets.

Within the office of the general counsel, we foster a culture of technical excellence, mentoring and thought leadership through discussion groups. These enable proactive identification and positioning on intersecting legal, regulatory and technology issues.

ASX is at a critical pivot point where it is seeking to make a once-in-a-generation change to its high-profile clearing and settlement platform while also undergoing significant transformation within its business. This comes amid rising regulatory focus and heightened public expectation over integrated exchanges. There’s never been a better time to demonstrate the value of quality in-house advice and support, and I feel privileged to play a key leadership role at ASX.