Enforcement staff from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) could be embedded in banks by the end of the month and might begin in the chief executive's office, said the regulator's boss.

In his first major broadcast interview, ASIC chairman James Shipton told The World Today the regulator's staff would begin "at the top" of the major banks and wealth manager AMP to assess culture, accountability and governance.

"We're going to start with headquarters. We'll start with the leadership group, because the initial focus is going to be around governance structures, particularly reporting structures of misconduct and conduct that doesn't meet community expectations," Mr Shipton said.

Mr Shipton confirmed no particular financial institution was first in the firing line and that the big four banks plus AMP would host embedded ASIC staff by the end of the month.

"They're all going to be first bank or financial institution off the rank. We're going to start in the weeks ahead to pre-plan, to pre-deploy our supervisory teams so that we can start this supervisory regulatory approach," Mr Shipton said.

"We want to have our supervisory officers physically inside these financial institutions by the end of the month."

Mr Shipton rejected criticisms that ASIC has been too close to banks, preferring enforceable undertakings to tougher action.

But he conceded that some overseas regulators had allowed themselves to be victims of "regulatory capture" by not being seen as tough or independent.

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"I don't think that's a fair criticism, but one thing we always have to be aware of as a regulator and attuned to, is regulatory capture," Mr Shipton said.

"This is something that I have been very attuned to as a regulator in my career but also, I've seen throughout my career, some examples of where regulatory capture did take place in the United States and elsewhere — and that can have a detrimental consequence."

Regulator also gets $70m funding boost

It is the first time ASIC has had the power to embed its enforcement staff into the major banks and wealth manager AMP as part of an "expanded armoury" to fight white-collar crime.

The corporate cop will have its budget boosted by more than $70 million as the regulator pushes back against claims at the financial services royal commission that it has been "asleep at the wheel" in the fight against corporate misconduct.

In what is described as a new supervisory "refocus", ASIC will be empowered to place dedicated staff within the "big four" banks — ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank — to directly monitor governance and compliance.

Wealth manager AMP — which stands accused of charging fees for no service and lying to ASIC — is also included in the $8 million embedding budget as part of the crackdown on unlawful and unethical behaviour.

The expanded ASIC powers come after a lengthy review by the relatively new ASIC chairman Mr Shipton, who started in the role earlier this year and announced the new funding today with Treasurer Scott Morrison and Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer.

Ms O'Dwyer told the ABC that the new funding will ensure ASIC is on the front foot in dealing with big financial companies to prevent harm to consumers before it occurs.

"These new resources will ensure that ASIC is the tough cop on the beat — the tough cop that all Australians need, and expect, ASIC to be," Ms O'Dwyer said.

"The package will allow ASIC to better combat corporate misconduct and misconduct in the financial services industry like never before."

The new measures also include $26.2 million to help ASIC pursue serious misconduct actions against "well funded litigants" and $6.8 million for a special taskforce to "identify and pursue failings in large listed companies" where ASIC staff could be deployed to investigate potential misconduct.

Whistleblowers who call out unlawful and unethical behaviour in the financial services sector will also receive greater protections, with $6.6 million provided to enhance the Federal Government's whistleblower protection laws.

The enhanced funding for ASIC follows the Federal Government's initial resistance to call a royal commission until it caved into political and community pressure late last year.

In addition to the appointment of James Shipton as ASIC chairman, the Federal Government appointed a second deputy chair, Daniel Crennan QC, to specifically focus on enforcement.

The $70.1 million package announced today follows $121.3 million in additional funding provided to ASIC in 2016 to bolster its investigative and surveillance capabilities and tougher criminal and civil penalties announced in April this year.

The May federal budget revealed a reduction in government funding for ASIC of $28 million over three years with average staffing levels to drop by 2 per cent — 30 positions — this financial year.

Funding was slated to fall from about $348 million this financial year to about $320 million in 2020-21.

However, the Federal Government restored some of ASIC's funding through a new industry funding model that is ultimately intended to fully fund the regulator.

The Federal Government also cut ASIC's funding by $120 million over five years in its 2014 budget.

Follow Peter Ryan on Twitter @peter_f_ryan.