Corporations Point-in-Time Service Updates

The Corporations Point-in-Time Service has been updated to include the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No. 3) Act 2020 (Cth) (Act 64 of 2020), the Corporations (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Act 2020 (Act 69 of 2020), the Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2020 (Cth) (Act 69 of 2020), the Corporations Amendment (Stamping Fee Exemption) Regulations 2020 (Cth), the Treasury Laws Amendment (Acquisition as Consumer—Financial Thresholds) Regulations 2020 (Cth) and the Corporations Amendment (Litigation Funding) Regulations 2020 (Cth).

Act 64 of 2020

Schedule 1 to the Act amends the ITAA 1936 to ensure the tax concessions available to minors in relation to income from a testamentary trust only apply in respect of income generated from assets of the deceased estate that are transferred to the testamentary trust (or the proceeds of the disposal or investment of those assets).

Schedule 2 to the Act amends the Corporations Act to defer the transitional timeframes for existing providers to comply with the education and training standard requiring completion of an approved degree or equivalent qualification and the standard requiring the passing of an approved exam.

Schedule 3 to the Act makes a number of minor and technical amendments to laws relating to taxation, superannuation, corporations and credit. These amendments are part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to the care and maintenance of Treasury portfolio legislation. These amendments make minor and technical changes to correct typographical and numbering errors, bring provisions in line with modern drafting conventions, repeal inoperative provisions, remove administrative inefficiencies, address unintended outcomes and update references, ensuring Treasury laws improve to operate as intended.

Act 67 of 2020

This Act is part of a legislative package to create a new Act called the Commonwealth Registers Act 2020 and make related amendments to a range of existing laws to create a new Commonwealth business registry regime. This Act amends the Corporations (Fees) Act 2001.    

Act 69 of 2020

This Act supports the Commonwealth Registers Act 2020 by making various amendments to support the creation of a new Commonwealth business registry regime. This includes replicating the provisions of the Commonwealth Registers Act in the Corporations Act, Credit Act, and Business Names Act, as well as various consequential amendments.

Schedule 2 amends the Corporations Act and the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 to introduce a director identification number (DIN) requirement.

Corporations Amendment (Stamping Fee Exemption) Regulations 2020

These regulations prohibit the payment or receipt of stamping fees paid in respect of listed investment companies or listed investment trusts. This removes the incentive for financial services licensees or their representatives to mis-sell products to retail clients in order to increase their remuneration, resulting in poor consumer outcomes. It also ensures that licensees using fees for services models are not at a competitive disadvantage vis a vis licensees that receive stamping fees.    

Treasury Laws Amendment (Acquisition as Consumer—Financial Thresholds) Regulations 2020

These regulations give effect to proposal 15 of the Australian Consumer Law Review which recommended changing the monetary threshold in the definition of ‘consumer’ for the purposes of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Corporations Amendment (Litigation Funding) Regulations 2020

This instrument brings litigation funders under the managed investment scheme and Australian Financial Services License regimes. The instrument also removes exemptions from anti-hawking provisions and product disclosure requirements for litigation funders.

These amendments have been updated in the Point-in-Time Corporations Service current to 28 August 2020. (NB: subscription required).

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