Corporations and Financial Sector Legislation Amendment Act 2013 Assented

Monday 24 June 2013 @ 10.12 a.m. | Corporate & Regulatory

The Corporations and Financial Sector Legislation Amendment Act 2013 (No. 59 of 2013) (CTH) was assented on 21 June 2013. This Act makes amendments related to the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and other financial products.

The main amendments in this Act are included in Schedule 1 which has seven Parts. This is the only Schedule in this Bill and it amends the Corporations Act 2001 (CTH), the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 (CTH), the Mutual Assistance in Business Regulation Act 1992 (CTH), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (CTH), the Reserve Bank Act 1959 (CTH), the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011 (CTH) and the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CTH).

The Explanatory Memorandum states that the purpose of these amendments is to introduce a range of miscellaneous measures related to the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and other financial products. The key measures are intended to:

  • assist central counterparties in managing defaults of clearing participants

  • enable the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to improve the allocation of their resources in assessing the compliance of Australian market licence (AML) and clearing and settlement facility licence (CSFL) holders with their legal obligations

  • allow certain Australian regulators including the RBA to exchange protected information with other entities in Australia and overseas in the execution of their duties subject to appropriate safeguards and

  • allow ASIC to gather and share protected information with regulatory entities overseas for supervision and enforcement purposes; and require ASIC to report on the use of those powers

This Act continues the implementation of the framework established by the Corporations Legislation Amendment (Derivative Transactions) Act 2012 (No. 178 of 2012) (CTH) on over-the-counter derivatives market reform.

All information gained from TimeBase LawOne Bills in the Explanatory Memorandum, Bills Digest and Committee Report.

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