With the case against Westpac over manipulation of the bank bill swap rate now resolved - albeit with a number of fuzzy outcomes for both sides - ASIC has published its new financial benchmarks rules and a regulatory guide.The agency styled these as "a further series of measures towards establishing a comprehensive regulatory regime for financial benchmarks". The regulator's latest steps towards the establishment of what it promises is "a new and robust licensing regime for significant benchmark administrators in Australia" follows on from the passage through the Parliament in March of a raft of related legislation.These actions back up the implementation of new BBSW methodology, with the benchmark now calculated directly from market transactions during a longer rate-set window and involving a larger number of participants.The guidelines also set out the limits of ASIC's powers: for example, compulsion to contribute to the calculation of a significant benchmark or to ASIC may only be applied to an entity if it has previously contributed to that benchmark.These further actions by ASIC include declaring certain financial benchmarks to be "significant" and writing rules for the administrators of significant benchmarks."Consistent with key overseas regimes, including the EU benchmark regulatory regime, the public interest test may be satisfied where the licensee intends to cease administering a significant benchmark and we consider it is necessary to require the licensee to continue administering the significant benchmark to help mitigate material market disruption," ASIC said in its explanatory notes.These measures will go some way towards aligning financial benchmarks in the Australian economy with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, and are expected to align the local approach with overseas regimes, including the European Benchmarks Regulation.A number of jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Singapore and Canada, have worked to align their regulatory regimes with these principles. As is the case in a number of other jurisdictions, the legislative reforms make manipulation of any financial benchmark, or products used to determine such a benchmark, a specific offence and subject to civil and criminal penalties.