Asia Region Funds Passport bill good news for industry
The passing by both Houses of Parliament of the Bill to introduce the Asia Region Funds Passport (ARFP) has been good news for the Australian financial services industry and will play a key role in facilitating growth in the region, according to a provider of a critical component of the wealth management industry’s infrastructure, APIR.
The firm’s chief executive, Chris Donohoe the ARFP would help facilitate cross-border distributions of funds between member jurisdictions.
“The passing of the Bill follows the launch of a pilot program at the start of this year to test the regulatory framework and investigate operational requirements, and APIR has been a strong supporter and participant in the pilot,” he said.
This would also create new opportunities for Australian fund managers to expand into Asian growth markets as well as for Australian investors to access regional investment expertise, he said.
However, he warned that the future success of the ARFP would depend on whether or not the right system would be set up to facilitate delivery of information and data about funds and holdings across different jurisdictions.
“We believe that the adoption of a standardised regional identification regime will enable a scalable and cost-effective system in line with the domestic and regional expectations of the ARFP,” Donohoe said.
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