January 2007
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In this edition:
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 Generally, it is too onerous a task for us to check and update these and so if a hyperlink is no longer valid, please accept our apologies.
Treasury has released an exposure draft of a Bill to implement the final stages (stages 3 and 4) of reforms of the taxation of financial arrangements. If enacted, the Tax Laws Amendment (Taxation of Financial Arrangements) Bill 2007 will introduce new tax timing rules — fair value, retranslation and hedging — and will modernise the accruals and realisation rules as they apply to financial arrangements. For a copy of the exposure draft and the accompanying explanatory material, go to:
http://tofa.treasury.gov.au/content/downloads/TOFA_Exposure_draft_legislation_January_2007.pdf
http://tofa.treasury.gov.au/content/downloads/Explanatory_material_exposure_draft_January_2007.pdf
ACCC has issued 3 new guides: Guide to collective bargaining notifications, Authorisation - new processes from 2007 and Formal merger review process guidelines. For a copy of the guides, go to:
ASIC has made changes to Class Order CO 05/26 Constitutional provisions about the consideration to acquire interests to allow the responsible entity of a listed managed investment scheme to issue discounted interests to an associate who is the underwriter of a placement or a rights issue. It also allows associates of the responsible entity to participate in placements where they acquire the interests in a non-beneficial capacity. See Information Release IR 07-02:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/BF261CDC436216D3CA257267007F0D9A?opendocument
ASIC has released a report Overview of decisions on relief applications (July to September 2006), outlining its decisions on applications for relief from the corporate finance, financial services and managed investment provisions of the Corporations Act over that period. For a copy of the report, go to:
For a summary of the exposure draft of the Tax Laws Amendment (Taxation of Financial Arrangements) Bill 2007, mentioned above, see Blake Dawson Waldron, Tax Bulletin – 12 January 2007:
http://www.bdw.com.au/publications/taxbulletin/taxbulletin012007.pdf
For a general discussion of recent developments in employee relations law, see Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Workplace Relations - January 2007:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/wr/fowrjan07.htm
The final part of the finance brokers licensing regime in WA has been gazetted. See Gadens, Banking & Finance Update – January 2007:
http://www.gadens.com.au/Documents/update_banking_finance_110107-1098-1.htm
Amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 will require media operators to notify ACMA of their control and directorships by 6 February 2007 via ACMA's website. See Blake Dawson Waldron, Media Update – 12 January 2007:
http://www.bdw.com.au/publications/media/media012007.pdf
A majority of the High Court has held that shareholders who have a claim against a company for misleading or deceptive conduct or breach of continuous disclosure obligations can prove in the administration or liquidation of the company and will rank equally with unsecured creditors. In the view of the majority, such claims were not owed debts owed to members in their capacity as members, which are subordinated to the claims of unsecured creditors under section 563A of the Corporations Act, but rather statutory entitlements under consumer and investor protection laws. The decision in Sons of Gwalia Ltd v Margaretic [2007] HCA 1 can be viewed at:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2007/1.html
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