Consumer disclosure and protection measures expanded
All retail debentures and promissory notes will be subject to the full range of consumer disclosure and protection measures that currently only apply to debentures, according to the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, Senator Nick Sherry.
Sherry has released the Corporations Legislation Amendment Bill relating to debentures and promissory notes, which he said would harmonise the legal regime.
“I have been deeply concerned about this issue since before coming to government. The losses of investors in companies such as Westpoint saw no response from the former Government."
According to Sherry, the changes will include the requirement to have a trust deed, trustee arrangements and to issue a full prospectus.
“These changes are a decade overdue and will reduce the risk of another Westpoint.” Sherry said.
In addition, the new laws will boost transparency in the debenture-issuing sector for the benefit of investors by establishing a public register of debenture trustees, which will be set up and maintained by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
“Together, the harmonisation of protection and the new publicly available register of trustees will significantly enhance the level of consumer protection in an area of our financial services that needed reform,” Sherry said.
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.
