CLERP 6 clears path for online offers

Electronic offer documents for investments will offer advisors, investors and fund managers with a number of efficiencies once the Financial Services Reform Bill (CLERP 6) passes parliament.

Electronic offer documents for investments will offer advisors, investors and fund managers with a number of efficiencies once the Financial Services Reform Bill (CLERP 6) passes parliament.

Head of ANZ Funds Managements’ retail superannuation and investment products, Kate Mulligan, told the recent Financial Services.com conference in Sydney the reforms were farsighted.

“CLERP 6 represents a fundamental shift in the disclosure regime. For the first time the law has been a fast follower of technology,” she said.

Under the new regime, applications for life investment and superannuation products may be offered on the basis of an electronic offer document and application form — omitting the need for wordy paper-based prospectuses and lengthy application procedures.

“CLERP 6 takes the law to a new high by expressly recognising that documents may be produced electronically,” Mulligan said. “The exciting thing about the legislation is that it recognises that electronic transactions are as valid as paper transactions and it omits the need to keep paper copies. That has never happened before.”

An equally exciting legal development, according to Mulligan, is recent acceptance of electronic signatures.

“The Commonwealth Electronic Transactions Act 1999 which came into effect on 15 March this year recognises electronic signatures provided they are in a technology which is reliable, identifies the user and indicates user approval,” she said.

Mulligan believes the recent and proposed changes to legislation will ultimately result in more effective and cost efficient distribution of documents to consumers and increased accuracy and speed in adviser service delivery.