November 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 Generally, it is too onerous a task for us to check and update these and so if a hyperlink is no longer valid, please accept our apologies.
A reminder for all participants in the financial services, bullion and gambling sectors that their obligations under the Anti-money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 come into effect on 12 December 2007. Businesses in these sectors must have in place an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing program and establish and document procedures to collect and verify information about the identity of a customer.
APRA has released a suite of prudential standards to give effect to the implementation of the Basel II Framework in Australia. The Basel II prudential standards will come into force on 1 January 2008 and are available on APRA's website at:
www.apra.gov.au/ADI/Basel-II-implementation-in-Australia.cfm
APRA has released revised prudential standards on governance for authorised deposit-taking institutions and life insurers. The revised prudential standards are available on APRA’s website at:
www.apra.gov.au/Policy/Prudential-Standards-Guidance-Notes-for-ADIs.cfm
www.apra.gov.au/Life/Prudential-Standards.cfm
APRA has released a package of new and amended prudential standards for life companies. The changes, which come into effect on 1 January 2008, result mainly from the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Regulation and Review) Act 2007. The new prudential standards are available on APRA’s website at:
www.apra.gov.au/Life/Prudential-Standards.cfm
ASIC has released a new Regulatory Guide 126: Compensation and insurance arrangements for AFS licensees, outlining its policy for administering the new compensation and professional indemnity insurance requirements for licensees providing financial services to retail clients. For a copy of the guide, go to:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/pdflib.nsf/LookupByFileName/rg126.pdf/$file/rg126.pdf
ASIC has released an updated version of Regulatory Guide 146: Licensing: Training of financial product advisers. For a copy, go to:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/pdflib.nsf/LookupByFileName/rg146.pdf/$file/rg146.pdf
ASIC has released a follow up Consultation Paper 95: Competition for market services. For a copy, go to:
ASIC has released a report outlining its recent decisions on applications for relief from the corporate finance, financial services and managed investment provisions of the Corporations Act between 1 June and 31 August 2007. For a copy, go to:
ASX has published a new Guidance Note No 35 Notification of Regulatory Action, outlining ASX policy on the obligation of market participants to notify ASX of regulatory action against them. See ASX Market Circular 626/07:
ASX has amended section 23 of the ASX Market Rule, relating to market makers in derivative market contracts. See ASX Market Circular 686/07 and attachment:
AUSTRAC has released rules exempting some designated services from the customer identification requirements under the AML/CTF Act. The Rules take the form of a new schedule to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No. 1) and are available at:
http://www.austrac.gov.au/aml_ctf_rules.html
Following a prolonged period of low trading activity, SFE has decided to delist all individual share futures contracts. See SFE Notice 162/07:
http://www.sfe.com.au/content/notices/2007/notice2007_162.pdf
SFE Clearing Corporation has amended the haircut rates applied to foreign currency held against initial margin requirements and expanded the list of approved collateral allowable for AIMs requirements. See SFE Notice 163/07:
http://www.sfe.com.au/content/notices/2007/notice2007_163.pdf
For summaries of the likely changes the new Rudd government will make to workplace relations laws, see Minter Ellison, HR & IR Update - 26 November 2007:
http://www.minterellison.com/public/resources/file/ebc4ec48462eaed/HR%26IRUpdate_1126%28ALP%29.pdf
For a summary of the changes recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission to the Federal privacy regime in Australia, see Minter Ellison, ALRC Report: Review of Privacy - November 2007:
http://www.minterellison.com/public/resources/file/ebc2e7465b4c994/Privacy-Update_0711.pdf
For a portend of likely changes to the Trade Practices Act following the election of the Rudd government, see Clayton Utz, Competition Insights - 28 November 2007:
http://www.claytonutz.com.au/areas_of_law/controller.asp?aolstring=&ns=342
Bluebottle UK Limited v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation [2007] HCA 54 has some useful High Court guidance on a number of legal issues regarding the status of dividends and rights to assign them. The decision can be viewed at:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2007/54.html
For those interested, the sentencing decision in R v Fodera [2007] NSWSC 1194 can be viewed at:
http://cclsr.law.unimelb.edu.au/judgments/states/nsw/2007/november/2007nswsc1194.htm
In Queensland Premier Mines Pty Ltd v French [2007] HCA 53, the High Court has ruled that a Torrens title transfer of mortgage did not transfer the underlying debt secured by the mortgage. The court held for that to have occurred, the mortgage would need to have set out the terms of the debt. The decision can be viewed at:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2007/53.html
For those interested, the decision in ACCC v Visy Industries Holdings Pty Limited (No 3) [2007] FCA 1617, imposing a record $38 million in penalties for price fixing, can be viewed at:
http://cclsr.law.unimelb.edu.au/judgments/states/federal/2007/november/2007fca1617.htm
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