Australia is a "paradise" for white-collar criminals because of its soft punishment of corporate offences, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman, Greg Medcraft, says.

Mr Medcraft said the only realistic response was harsher jail terms and bigger penalties for white-collar crime.

Change: Chairman Greg Medcraft said ASIC's enforcement actions will be more transparent. Credit:Ben Rushton

He also repeated calls for a national competency exam for financial advisers in the lead up to a crackdown on the industry and more funding for ASIC to investigate the finance sector, including a user-pays funding model.

Finance industry players were not "Christian soldiers", Mr Medcraft said on Tuesday, but were motivated by fear and greed.