Banking and Finance Point-in-Time Service Updates

Wednesday 22 May 2019 @ 2.17 p.m.

The Banking and Finance Point-in-Time Service has been updated to include the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019 (Cth) (Act 10 of 2019), the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Act 2019 (Cth) (Act 17 of 2019), the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No. 1) Act 2019 (Cth) (Act 49 of 2019), the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019 (Cth) (Act 50 of 2019), the Treasury Laws Amendment (ASIC Cost Recovery and Fees) Regulations 2019 (Cth), the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Regulations 2019 (Cth) and the Treasury Laws Amendment (AFCA Cooperation) Regulations 2019 (Cth).

Act 10 of 2019

This Act creates a consolidated whistleblower protection regime for the corporate and financial sectors, and introduces new protections for tax whistleblowers not available under the existing laws.
This Act amends the Corporations Act to strengthen and consolidate whistleblower protections for the corporate and financial sector; and the TAA 1953 to create a whistleblower protection regime for disclosures of information by individuals regarding breaches of the tax laws or misconduct in relation to an entity’s tax affairs.
It also repeals the financial sector whistleblower regimes and clarifies transitional arrangements.

Act 17 of 2019

An Act to amend the Corporations Act, ASIC Act, Credit Act and Insurance Contracts Act to introduce a stronger penalty framework in response to a number of recommendations from the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce report.
The Taskforce was established following a recommendation from the Financial System Inquiry. The Taskforce recommended strengthening penalties for corporate and financial sector misconduct, and simplifying the access to, and the operation of, a number of civil penalty and criminal offence provisions.
The amendments made by this Act aim to deter misconduct and improve community confidence in the corporate and financial sector. The amendments made by the Act:

  • update the penalties for certain criminal offences in ASIC administered legislation, including increasing the maximum imprisonment penalties for certain criminal offences; introducing a formula to calculate financial penalties for criminal offences; and removing imprisonment as a penalty and increasing the financial penalties for all strict and absolute liability offences;
  • introduce ordinary criminal offences that sit alongside strict and absolute liability offences;
  • modernise and expand the civil penalty regime by increasing financial penalties for contraventions and making a wider range of offences subject to civil penalties;
  • harmonise and expand the infringement notice regime;
  • introduce a new test that applies to all dishonesty offences under the Corporations Act;
  • introduce relinquishment as a remedy available in civil penalty proceedings;
  • clarify that the courts are to give priority to compensating victims over ordering the payment of financial penalties; and
  • clarify that contraventions of section 184 of the Corporations Act can occur even when the relevant corporation gains an advantage from the contravention.

Act 49 of 2019

Schedule 2 of this Act and the Excise Tariff Amendment (Supporting Craft Brewers) Act 2019amend the Excise Tariff Act and the Excise Act to extend concessional rates of excise to brewers that supply draught beer in kegs or other containers that have a capacity of 8 litres or more that are designed for use with a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system.

Schedule 3 to the Act amends the ITAA 1997 to continue to provide the Global Infrastructure Hub Ltd (the Hub) with an exemption from the liability to pay income tax on its ordinary and statutory income.

Schedule 4 to the Act makes a number of miscellaneous amendments to legislation in the Treasury portfolio. These amendments are part of the Government’s commitment to the care and maintenance of the Treasury portfolio legislation. These amendments make minor technical changes to correct spelling errors, bring provisions in line with drafting conventions and repeal inoperative provisions. The Schedule also makes minor technical amendments to remove administrative inefficiencies and clarifies the law to ensure that it operates in accordance with policy intent.

Act 50 of 2019

Schedule 1 to this Act amends the Corporations Act to introduce design and distribution obligations in relation to financial products.

Schedule 2 to this Act amends the Corporations Act and the Credit Act to introduce a product intervention power for ASIC to prevent or respond to significant consumer detriment.

Treasury Laws Amendment (ASIC Cost Recovery and Fees) Regulations 2019

The purpose of the Treasury Laws Amendment (ASIC Cost Recovery and Fees) Regulations 2019is to give effect to Government announcements by amending the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017, the Business Names Registration (Fees) Regulations 2011, the Corporations (Fees) Regulations 2001, the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Regulations 2010 and the Superannuation Auditor Registration Imposition Regulation 2012 to:

  • create a new subsector to enable ASIC to recover its regulatory costs incurred from its close and continuous monitoring of Australia’s largest institutions – as announced by the Government on 7 August 2018;
  • exempt journalists from paying certain registry search fees, from 1 July 2019 – as announced by the Government on 30 July 2018;
  • reduce the fee to access company roles and relationship extracts from $40 to $19, from 1 July 2019 – as announced by the Government on 30 July 2018; and
  • make other minor amendments to the Levy and Fees Regulations to ensure ASIC’s regulatory costs are more accurately reflected.

Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Regulations 2019

This instrument amends multiple instruments to prescribe the list of offence, civil penalty and key requirement provisions that are subject to an infringement notice regime, ensure penalties and some offences in regulations are consistent with the strengthened penalty framework inserted by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Corporate and Financial Sector Penalties) Act 2019, update a number of cross-references and provide for contingent amendments.  

Treasury Laws Amendment (AFCA Cooperation) Regulations 2019

These regulations impose a requirement that members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority must provide the Australian Financial Complaints Authority with reasonable assistance to allow the Australian Financial Complaints Authority to promptly and fairly resolve complaints.  

These amendments have been updated in the Point-in-Time Banking and Finance Service current to 21 May 2019. (NB: Subscription required).

If you are not already a subscriber to this or other Point-in-Time Services then please contact us to find out more or to take a free trial.