Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Arbib for his first supplementary question. As I was saying, the agreement will also make Australian markets more attractive and accessible to investment from the United States. It will mean that retail investors in Australia will be able to access the US market directly through Australian brokers and enjoy Australian regulatory protection. It effectively removes an additional set of compliance and red-tape steps and reduces the costs for market trading. It also improves market liquidity and investment flows. That is very important, given the current financial crisis around the world.

The response from the financial sector has been very supportive. In a show of support, the CEO of the Australian Investment and Financial Services Association, Mr Gilbert, was in Washington to view the signing of the agreement. The Australian Financial Markets Association, AFMA, stated that this arrangement will boost the government’s initiative to maximise Australia’s potential for generating income, another fine example of this government acting to strengthen our financial markets. (Time expired)