Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move a motion relating to the consideration of a bill.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the Corporations and Other Legislation Amendment (Trustee Companies and Other Measures) Bill 2011, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings.

I table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

CORPORATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (TRUSTEE COMPANIES AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL

Purpose of the Bill

The bill amends the trustee company provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Chapter 5D), in particular to insert a regime for voluntary transfers of business, to strengthen the common funds regime, and other amendments to clarify the operation of the scheme.

The bill will also amend the Payment System (Regulation) Act 1998 to protect participants in the automatic teller machine (ATM) system from prosecution under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Reasons for Urgency

A transitional regulation in the Corporations Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 3), deems certain trustee company subsidiaries to be Australian financial services licensees.  That provision expires on 30 April 2011.  The intention of the transitional provision was to provide sufficient time to implement a voluntary transfer regime (which is necessary to facilitate consolidation and restructuring in the industry) and for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to process the voluntary transfers.

If the voluntary transfer regime is not in place in sufficient time before the deeming provision expires, a number of affected trustee companies will be unable to legally operate their subsidiaries or carry out the necessary consolidations.  While the transitional regulation may be able to be temporarily extended if the Governor-General in Council agrees, the industry requires the certainty of a legislated voluntary transfer regime.

Further, the Payment Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006 which protects participants in the ATM system sunsets in March 2011, as regulations made for the purposes of section 51(1)(a)(ii) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 last for two years.  To allow ATM participants to continue to comply with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s ATM reforms a legislative change to the Payment System (Regulation) Act 1998 is required.