January 2006
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In this edition:
| 1. | Legislative News | |
| FSR refinements completed | ||
| 2. | Regulator News | |
| ACCC | ASIC | ASX | SFE | ||
| 3. | Articles | |
| Employee Relations | ||
| Financial Services | ||
Note: All hyperlinks below were correct at the time of publication. Generally, it is too onerous a task for us to check and update these and so if a hyperlink is no longer valid, please accept our apologies.
One we missed last month - on 19 December 2005, Treasury announced that the completion of the FSR Refinements project. This followed the making of the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5) a few days beforehand. The regulations are intended to encourage the production of disclosure documents that have less duplicated information and are more directly relevant to consumers’ needs, to reduce the compliance burden on industry and to provide greater certainty as to operation of the law. They also provide for simpler oral disclosure and streamlined disclosure in relation to basic deposit products and general insurance products. For a copy of the Treasury's announcement, the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5) and their explanatory statement, go to:
http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1048/PDF/Refinements_to_Financial_Services_Regulation.pdf
The Attorney-General has announced that the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) will review the Privacy Act 1988. The review is to be completed by 31 March 2008 and will involve widespread consultation with the public and key stakeholders. See Media Release 006/2006:
A penalty of $8.9 million has been imposed on Australian Safeway Stores Pty Ltd for fixing the price of bread and misusing its market power. See ACCC Media Release 015/06:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/723192/fromItemId/2332
ASIC has provided guidance to financial service providers about compliance with the FSR refinement regulations made in December 2005. See Information Release IR 06-02:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/54A44D0F096489DFCA2570FF000CC96E?opendocument
ASIC has published class order CO 06/50 Transfer of remuneration information into directors’ report, granting relief to listed companies preparing financial reports under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act. The class order allows listed companies to transfer remuneration information required to be disclosed in the financial report under accounting standard AASB 124 Related Party Disclosures into the directors’ report. This will enable listed companies to combine the remuneration disclosures required by accounting standards with those already required to be included in the directors’ report under section 300A of the Act. The class order will replace regulations that provided similar relief up to, but not including, years ended 31 December 2005. See Information Release IR 06-03:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/821046C163E747AECA25710600200647?opendocument
ASX has updated and revised its Capital Requirements Guidance booklet. See ASX Circular 032/06 and attachment:
ASX has amended the overnight trading rules in ASX Market Rule Procedures 16.3.10. See ASX Circular 002/06 and attachments:
ASX has amended the market rules, procedures and guidance notes dealing with trading records and the contract specifications for grain futures market contracts. See ASX Circular 004/06 and attachments:
Following a number of recent breaches, the SFE's Market Practices Committee has clarified the operating rules and procedural requirements relating to messaging under the Pre-Negotiated Business Order Rules. See SFE Notice 002/06:
http://www.sfe.com.au/content/notices/2006/notice2006_002.pdf
For a general discussion of recent developments in employee relations law, see Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Workplace Relations - January 2006:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/pdf/wr/fowrjan06.pdf
For a summary of the processes currently underway to rationalise awards and their implications for employers, see Freehills, Award Rationalisation and the Award Review Taskforce - Implications for Employers - 27 January 2006:
http://www.freehills.com.au/publications/publications_5618.asp
For a summary of the changes to the jurisdictional rules in the FSRA brought about by the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 5), see Mallesons, Australian Financial Services Licensing - Additional Exemptions to Jurisdictional Reach Now in Force - 11 January 2006:
http://www.mallesons.com/publications/2006/Jan/8259456W.htm
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