September 2005
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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 Generally, it is too onerous a task for us to check and update these and so if a hyperlink is no longer valid, please accept our apologies.
The legislation to fully privatise Telstra has passed through Parliament. For a copy of the Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Act 2005, go to:
The Attorney General's Department has released a consultation paper entitled Effect of Bankruptcy on Superannuation Contributions proposing changes to the Bankruptcy Act 1966 to prevent bankrupts from using superannuation to avoid creditors. Comments on the paper are due by 4 November 2005. For a copy of the paper, go to:
The Federal Government has also announced a package of reforms to improve the performance of the native title system. See:
http://www.ag.gov.au/nativetitlesystemreform
Record penalties of more than $1 million have been imposed by the Federal Court against weight-loss venture Chaste Corporation and three of its managers for infringing the prohibition against resale price maintenance. The infringing conduct related to franchise agreements which prevented area managers from selling a weight loss product at a discount. See Media Release 217/05:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/706601/fromItemId/2332
APRA has released a discussion paper proposing changes to life company financial statements and contract classification. The discussion paper and associated draft prudential rules are available at:
http://www.apra.gov.au/Policy/Draft-Prudential-Rules-PR35-and-Contract-classification.cfm
APRA has introduced a revised capital and reporting framework for lenders mortgage insurers intended to provide increased protection for policyholders. A copy of the revised prudential standard, new guidance note and new reporting standard for LMIs can be downloaded at:
http://www.apra.gov.au/Policy/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=9153
http://www.apra.gov.au/General/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=9155
http://www.apra.gov.au/Statistics/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=9157
ASIC has imposed a special licence condition on stockbroking firm BBY Ltd to review conflicts management following the publication of positive research on a client to which it was giving corporate advice at the time. ASIC found that BBY did not follow its own procedures for the approval of research reports, nor was it able to demonstrate that it had monitored compliance with those procedures. Further BBY did not maintain a robust Chinese wall arrangement, nor was it able to demonstrate that it had monitored the effectiveness of its Chinese walls. See Media Release 05-288:
http://asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/6D167DB3CE352F33CA2570830018FAF8?opendocument
ASIC has announced that it has revised its practice on releasing information provided to it in response to beneficial tracing notices. ASIC will now generally provide information received in response to a beneficial tracing notice to the company and will not disclose the identity of the person who requested ASIC to issue the beneficial tracing notice. See Information Release IR 05-50:
http://asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/22AF9DBD194F60E1CA2570730018B0F4?opendocument
ASIC has issued further answers to some regularly asked questions about the enhanced fee disclosure regulations that came into effect earlier this year. See Information Release IR 05-54:
http://asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/CBD717082DDE4282CA2570880016D5B8?opendocument
ASIC has announced it will continue existing class order relief allowing responsible entities of registered managed investment schemes to invest scheme property in asset-backed securities that involve an unregistered managed investment scheme. The relief, found in paragraph 2 of Class Order 98/55 Investments in unregistered schemes, was due to expire on 30 September 2005 but has been extended on an ongoing basis at this stage. See Information Release IR 05-52:
http://asic.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/D76027DF946F4FCECA25707500072993?opendocument
ASX is proposing to amend ASX Market Rules 7.9 and 4.10 relating to the despatch of confirmations and to accumulation and price averaging. See Participant Circular 439/05 and attachments:
ASX has amended Procedure 5.1.1 to expand the definition of classes of products to allow for options and futures to be considered as two separate classes. The effect of the amendment is to permit trading participants to use up to two clearing participants to clear market transactions for each class of product. See Participant Circular 467/05 and attachments:
ASX has announced that the removal of broker identifiers will take effect on 28 November 2005. The SEATS Reference Manual has been updated to reflect that reform. See Participant Circulars 469/05 and 481/05:
For a general discussion of recent developments in banking and finance law, see Blake Dawson Waldron, Banking and Finance Update - September 2005:
http://www.bdw.com.au/publications/bankingupdate/bankingupdate092005.pdf
For a general discussion of recent developments in corporate governance, see Blake Dawson Waldron, Company Law & Governance Update - September 2005:
http://www.bdw.com.au/publications/governance/governance092005.pdf
For a general discussion of recent developments in employee relations law, see Minter Ellison, HR and IR Update - September 2005:
Under a recent Federal Court decision, certified agreements that leave matters open for agreement may be invalid and that could have serious implications for existing certified agreements. See Allens Arthur Robinson, Client Update: Workplace Relations - 16 September 2005:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/wr/cuwr16sep05.htm
A reminder that the NSW Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 comes into effect on 7 October 2005. For a summary of the Act's main provisions, see Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Workplace Surveillance Act - September 2005:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/baf/fobafsep05.htm
Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Insurance & Reinsurance - September 2005 discusses the ramifications of the proposed new anti-money laundering laws on the insurance industry. For a copy, go to:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/pdf/insur/foinssep05.pdf
For a good summary of the recent Federal Court decision in the Kazaa case, see Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Copyright - September 2005:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/pdf/ip/foipsep05.pdf
Allens Arthur Robinson, Focus: Native Title - September 2005 looks at some of the issues raised in 4 recent decisions relating to native title. See:
http://www.aar.com.au/pubs/pdf/nat/fontsep05.pdf
ASIC v Vines [2005] NSWSC 738 is an important decision about the standard of care expected of chief financial officers and other executive officers when making profit forecasts. The decision can be downloaded from:
http://cclsr.law.unimelb.edu.au/judgments/states/nsw/2005/august/2005nswsc738.htm
In Jarratt v Commissioner of Police for New South Wales [2005] HCA 50, the High Court held that Crown prerogative to dismiss Crown servants at pleasure had been displaced by statute in that case, but in any event was no longer compatible with modern-day conditions of the public service or with the obligation to accord natural justice. The decision can be viewed at:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2005/50.html
For those interested, the decision of the High Court in APLA Limited v Legal Services Commissioner (NSW) [2005] HCA 44, upholding the constitutionality of the NSW regulations prohibiting the advertising of legal services in personal injuries cases, can be viewed at:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/2005/44.html
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