Corporations Amendment Regulations 2012 - Trustee Companies

The Hon Bill Shorten MP has released for public comment draft Regulations and explanatory material for the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2012 and the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 3) Amendment Regulations 2012 in relation to trustee companies.

The Regulations include provisions that:

• extend the current deemed licensing regime (for trustee companies seeking to be consolidated) until 31 December 2012. This is necessary to give the states and territories sufficient time to pass complementary legislation to make transfers of trustee company business fully effective;
• improve the operation of the trustee company common fund regime by more closely adopting industry practice;
• reflect the fact that a prohibition on related party dealings that are not at arm’s length has been moved into the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act);
• update the list of entities that are authorised to perform off-market transfers of securities under Division 3 of Part 7.11 of the Corporations Act (formerly known as “authorised trustee corporations”);
• insert additional State and Territory legislation which ought not to be excluded by the Commonwealth trustee company provisions (in Schedule 8AD); and
• put beyond doubt that a client's rights to access compensation and dispute resolution arrangements are preserved following a transfer of trustee company business.

The regulations have been developed following discussions with the industry and the states and territories. The draft regulations are available for public comment for a four week period.