Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES COMMISSION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 301

Statutory Rules 1994 No. 301

Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General

Australian Securities Commission Act 1989

Australian Securities Commission Regulations (Amendment)

Section 251 of the Australian Securities Commission Act 1989 (the Act) empowers the GovernorGeneral to make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing matters:

(a)       required or permitted by the Act (other than the non-applied provisions) to be prescribed by regulations., or

(b)       necessary or convenient to be prescribed by such regulations for carrying out or giving effect to the Act (other than the non-applied provisions).

The 'non-applied' provisions are specified in section 5 of the Act and are not relevant for present purposes.

The purpose of the accompanying Regulations is to amend the Australian Securities Commission Regulations (the ASC Regulations) to specify certain bodies corporate to which the Australian Securities Commission (ASC) may disclose information.

Details of the accompanying Regulations are as follows.

Regulation 1 : Amendment

This regulation provides that the Regulations amend the Australian Securities Commission Regulations.

Regulation 2: New regulation 8A

This regulation inserts a new regulation 8A after regulation 8. The amendment provides that the bodies corporate listed in Schedule 3 of the Regulations are specified for the purposes of subsection 127(4C) of the Act.

Subsection 127(1) of the Act provides that the ASC shall take all reasonable measures to protect from unauthorised use or disclosure information given to it in confidence or in connection with the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers under a national scheme law. 'National scheme law' is defined in section 5 of the Act to mean the Act, the Corporations Law of the Australian Capital Territory and the Corporations Act 1989 and corresponding Corporations Acts and Laws in the States and the Northern Territory.

As a result of amendments made by the Corporate Law Reform Act 1994, which will commence operation on 5 September 1994 as a result of subsection 2(3) of that Act, new subsection 127(4B) provides that the disclosure of information by the ASC to a body corporate specified in regulations under subsection (4C) is authorised use and disclosure of the information if the Chairman of the ASC is satisfied that the information will enable or assist the body corporate to monitor compliance with, enforce, or perform its functions or exercise its powers under the Corporations Law or its business rules or listing rules.

New subsection 1.27(4C) provides that the regulations may specify a body corporate for the purposes of subsection (4B) if, and only if, the body corporate conducts a stock market or a futures market or is the securities clearing house or a clearing house for a futures exchange.

Regulation 3 : New Schedule 3

Subregulation 3.1 inserts a new Schedule 3 after Schedule 2. The new Schedule specifies the bodies corporate to which the ASC may disclose information for the purposes of subsection 127(4C) of the Act.

These bodies are:

(a)       ASX Futures Exchange Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Australian Stock Exchange Limited, which has approval under section 1126 of the Corporations Law to conduct a futures market;

(b)       ASX Settlement and Transfer Corporation Pty Ltd, the clearing house for Australian Stock Exchange Limited;

(c)       Australian Stock Exchange Limited, which conducts a stock market;

(d)       Options Clearing House Pty Limited, the clearing house for the Australian Options Market of the Australian Stock Exchange Limited;

(e)       Sydney Futures Exchange Clearing House Pty Limited, the clearing house for Sydney Futures Exchange Limited,

(f)       Sydney Futures Exchange Limited, which conducts a futures market.