The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is planning to review the capital rules governing brokers who use other firms to clear their clients share trades, in a move that may result in those traders having to lift their capital holdings, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.

Such a move would likely strain the weakened broking industry, but ASIC had expressed reservations about the pillar within the broking industry that allowed those that outsource some of their back-office functions to hold less capital than full-service firms.

The review comes as ASIC takes control of supervision over some brokers from the Australian Securities Exchange, according to the AFR.