Australia’s corporate regulator is on notice to show a “radical” increase in court actions in the wake of the Hayne royal commission, with Labor warming to a new enforcement agency to prosecute offenders.

In a new front in the political fight over the banks, Labor is considering the idea of a new “civil enforcement agency” that could take over the work of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission because the existing regulator has been too soft on wrongdoing.

The number of criminals imprisoned from ASIC prosecutions fell to six last financial year, about half the usual number, and the number of criminal and civil actions concluded fell to 138, the lowest level in five years.

While the regulator imposed civil penalties worth $42.2 million last year, up from just $5.2 million the previous year, the fines imposed in criminal actions fell to just $15,100.