Submissions deadline extended
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Securities has extended the Financial Services Reform Bill (FSRB) submissions deadline, reacting to anger in the industry over the initial 6 working days timeframe.
Committee Chairman Senator Grant Chapman announced a two week extension to the deadline, with industry submissions now due on May 7, 2001. Chapman says the extension has been granted due to the level of interest in the bill from the business community.
"The Committee staff has been notifying all parties who made inquiries that, in view of the original tight time frame, late submissions would be accepted. But the Committee has decided to formally extend the closing date as a response to the importance of the subject matter of the Bill and to the level of interest shown," he says.
A parliamentary spokesperson says the extension decision has now formalised what had been happening informally, with people calling the Committee requesting extra time.
The Committee had received a number of submissions from interested parties within the initial deadline time, and went ahead with the first public hearing in Melbourne last Friday.
The Parliamentary spokesperson says further public hearings will also take place if required, depending on the level of interest and further submissions the Committee receives.
Commenting on the two-week extension to the FSRB submissions, Financial Planning Association (FPA) public policy manager Con Hristodoulis says the association welcomes the extension.
He says the FPA's submission for the initial deadline noted several areas that were still felt to be unclear, such as incidental advice and risk disclosure, and the association are now developing a supplementary submission for the new May 7 deadline.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAA) technical consultant Keith Reilly says the Institute is "delighted" with the extension, but still have concerns.
"Our concern really is that the licencing provisions are still not all that clear cut, and whilst there has been some clarification it really is not sufficient," he says.
He says enough time is also needed for the industry to absorb the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) policy papers detailing how ASIC intends to interpret the legislation, which are not due to be released until early May.
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