AUSTRALIA INC.
ABN 52 057 832 827
Incorporated in Victoria under the Associations Incorporations Act 1981.
The liability of the Association’s members is limited.
Registration Number A0026236D
Postal address: Telephone (02) 9943 0554
P O Box R488 Facsimile: (02) 9943 0554
Royal Exchange Sydney NSW 1225 Mobile: 0414 685 214
Website: www.sraa.asn.au Email:
Newsletter No. 240
4 April 2016
Contents in this issue include:
- Agenda - Joint Meeting – 4 April 2016
- News from Divisions - Joint NSW, SA, VIC and QLD meeting – 7 March 2016
- State Division Meeting Dates - 2016
Meeting Chairman: Martin Jones
Secretary: John Steel
Disclaimer: This periodical Newsletter is designed to keep readers abreast with current developments. It is not intended to be comprehensive. Readers are therefore advised that before acting on any matter arising herein, they should discuss the same with their advisers.
/ SECURITIES REGISTRARS ASSOCIATION OFAUSTRALIA INC.
ABN 52 057 832 827
Incorporated in Victoria under the Associations Incorporations Act 1981.
The liability of the Association’s members is limited.
Registration Number A0026236D
Postal address: Telephone: (02) 9943 0554
P O Box R488 Facsimile: (02) 9943 0554
Royal Exchange, Sydney NSW 1225 Mobile: 0414 685 214
Web site: www.sraa.asn.au Email:
NOTICE OF MEETING
(Venues)
Victoria New South Wales South Australia
National Australia Bank ASX Limited
Hobart Room
Level 1
20 Bridge Street
Sydney
(Please register at concierge desk on ground floor)
Dial in teleconference number for all parties : (02) 8298 8202 (wait till
answer) then dial passcode 6428
Date : Monday, 4 April 2016
Time : 12.30pm to 2.00pm
Meeting Chairman : Martin Jones
AGENDA
This is to be a joint Victoria, New South Wales and South Australian meeting
- 1. Notes from previous Division meeting
- 2. CHESS HIN – Holder Registration Name Standards
- 3. Shortening the Settlement Cycle in the US
- 4. Other Business
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1. Notes from previous Division Meeting
Australia Post – Mail Delivery changes
Following the Australia Post price increases on 1 January 2016 and changes to delivery standards, numerous concerns have been raised by industry participants, regarding the despatch and return of Corporate Action documentation – particularly in respect of small retail shareholders – pursuant to the introduction of T+2 on 7 March 2016.
Subsequent to the article in the ASA’s February/March Equity magazine, recommending that shareholders opt to receive correspondence electronically, in respect of their shareholdings, by providing an email address to the share registry, the ASA has met with ASIC who are aware of these issues.
Share registries are suggesting their clients use Priority Paid post for important communications such as offer documents.
n 7 October 2015, the Commissioner of Taxation
published a Commonwealth Gazette notice
advising that the ATO will acquire online selling
data relating to registrants who sold goods and
services to a value of $10,000 or more during the
ATO Third Party Reporting and Data Matching
Members were advised that, in addition to collecting the required Third Party Reporting data from 1 July 2016, the OECD CRS (Common Reporting Standards) for the automatic exchange of financial account information will also commence on 1 July 2016.
The CRS is the single global standard for the collection, reporting and exchange of financial account information on foreign tax residents. Banks and other financial institutions will collect and report financial account information on non-residents. The ATO will exchange this information with the participating foreign tax authorities of those non-residents. In parallel, it will receive financial account information on Australian residents from other countries' tax authorities.
FATCA
FATCA now applies to Listed Investment Companies although ASX is yet to implement the appropriate FATCA messaging.
2. Agenda Items
2.1 CHESS HIN – Holder Registration Name Standards
ASX is seeking feedback on proposed enhancements to the ASX Settlement Procedures Guidelines [APG] section 5 (Client Holding Administration) and reminding participants of their obligations when registering client holdings, specifically the restrictions imposed on the use of “ATF”, “ACF”, “Trust”, “Testamentary” “Testamentary trust” and “Fund” in the name or designation fields of a holder registration .
APG states among other things that holdings must not be registered in the name of a fund or a trust and that holder registrations should not give notice of a trust, or any testamentary or custodial arrangement, whether express, implied or constructive.
In addition to the above, the enhancements include clarifying the functions able to be performed when a (death) holder record lock is in effect.
The SRA has no issues with the majority of the proposed changes.
However, the change in wording to 5.11.1 on page 5-48 does raise some concerns.
Under the proposed changes, it appears that a holder record lock does not prevent name and address changes or cancellation of bank account information, of the deceased’s holding/s where instructions are received “before the legal representative has been granted probate or letters of administration.”
A CHESS holder record lock is used to protect the holdings of a deceased estate until probate is granted.
We would prefer that this protection be retained to avoid any possibility of fraudulent activity prior to probate or letters of administration being granted.
2.2 ATO Third Party Reporting and Data Matching
On 7 October 2015, the Commissioner of Taxation
published a Commonwealth Gazette notice
advising that the ATO will acquire online selling
data relating to registrants who sold goods and
services to a value of $10,000 or more during the
As reported previously, Legislation to introduce third party reporting of real property, shares and units, business transactions made through payment systems and government grants and payments data received royal assent on 30 November 2015.
The draft Legislative Instruments, Explanatory Statements and Electronic Reporting Specifications accompanying the legislation were released for consultation onLet’s TalkExternal Linkand closed 15 February 2016. The Legislative Instruments will be finalised by March 2016.
The start date for reporting is 1 July 2016 for ASIC.
Managed Funds and Trustees reporting through the Annual Investment Income Report will need to report by 31 October 2018. All other reporters will need to commence collecting the required data from 1 July 2017 with the first annual report due for submission by 31 July 2018.
Further details are available on the ATO website at lets-talk.ato.gov.au/3rdpartyreporting.
On 7 October 2015, the Commissioner of Taxation
published a Commonwealth Gazette notice
advising that the ATO will acquire online selling
data relating to registrants who sold goods and
services to a value of $10,000 or more during the
2.3 Shortening the Settlement Cycle in Australia – T+2
Refer to ASX CHESS Participant Bulletin below.
2.4 FATCA update
No updates.
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3.1 Shortening the Settlement Cycle in the US
The U.S. T+2 Industry Steering Committee (T+2 ISC), organized by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and co-chaired by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI), has announced the industry target date of September 5, 2017, for the U.S. move from a T+3 to a T+2 settlement cycle.
The T+2 implementation date was chosen by the T+2 ISC after careful consideration, input from industry participants and consultation with other markets globally.
The target implementation date of September 5, 2017, is contingent upon obtaining regulators’ support in amending applicable rules in a timely manner, and upon the successful completion of industry-wide testing during Q2 and Q3 of 2017. For additional information and updates on the T+2 migration visit http://www.ust2.com
3.2 AUSTRAC - Draft AML/CTF Rules now open for consultation
AUSTRAC has released draft amendments to Chapter 38 of the AML/CTF Rules (Sale of shares for charitable purposes) have increased the threshold for the disposal of parcels of shares from $500 to $10,000. It is considered that this threshold will encourage donations of higher monetary value while not increasing money-laundering and terrorism-financing risk.
A public consultation period is open from 7 March 2016 to 4 April 2016.
Access the draft amendments at theDraft AML/CTF Rulespage.
3.3 16-086MR ASIC consults on remaking ASIC class orders on financial services disclosure
On 23 March 2016, ASIC released a consultation paper proposing to remake four class orders that are due to expire (‘sunset’) in 2017.
The class orders proposed to be remade are:
· Class Order [CO 02/1072]Product Disclosure Statements – Top up relief for managed investment schemes,
· Class Order [CO 07/10]Technical disclosure relief for reconstructions and capital reductions (paragraph 9),
· Class Order [CO 03/237]Updated information in Product Disclosure Statements, and
· Class Order [CO 03/1092]Further relief for joint Product Disclosure Statements.
Consultation Paper 255Remaking ASIC class orders on financial services disclosure(CP 255) outlines the class orders proposed to be remade and our rationale for remaking them.
The draft ASIC instruments, which reflect the minor amendments proposed in the consultation paper, are available on our website atwww.asic.gov.au/cpunderCP 255.
Submissions on CP 255 are due on 26 April 2016.
3.4 16-095MR ASIC facilitates easier electronic disclosure under the ePayments Code
On 29 March 2016, ASIC announced changes to the ePayments Code that will make it easier for businesses to give information to their customers in a digital form.
Under the changes, subscribers to the ePayments Code will be able to give information to their customers by making it available electronically and notifying the consumer. This follows similar changes ASIC made last year to the Corporations Act.
The changes mean that documents under the ePayments Code can be delivered to consumers digitally as the default option, unless the consumer opts out.
Asummary of the amendments is available on the ASIC website.
New tax treaty with Germany
On 13 November 2015, the Commonwealth
Treasurer announced that a new Tax Treaty
(Treaty) had been signed with Germany, aimed at
reducing tax impediments to increased bilateral
trade and investment, and improving the integrity
of the tax system. It replaces a previous Double
Taxation Agreement between Australia and
Germany signed in 1972
4. Other Business
4.1 CHESS Participant and Registry Bulletins
0232.16.03 T+2 Settlement for Cash Equities – completion of first T+2 batch settlement
ASX confirmed that the first settlement batch on 9 March was completed successfully. The settlement batch included trades conducted on Friday, 4 March and trades conducted on Monday, 7 March 2016.0244.16.03 CHESS Release 9 – mFund update – Removal of Regular Payment Plan (RPP) Feature
mFund stakeholders are advised that following targeted consultation with mFund Issuers and Product Issuer Settlement Participants, ASX Settlement has determined not to proceed with the Regular Payment Plan feature under CHESS Release 9. The existing functionality will be disabled within the CHESS RTE environment following end of day on Friday, 11 March 2016.
The existing DRP/RPP Election Request message has been renamed Distribution Election Request to now cater solely for distribution elections. .
4.2 Game over for CHESS?
Recent press articles have tipped ASX as leading the world on blockchain.
Following its acquisition of a 5% ($14.9 million) equity interest in US-based blockchain firm, Digital Asset, ASX has announced it will spend a further $1million to work out by the middle of 2017 whether it should be the basis of the new equity settlement system which will replace the 20 year old CHESS system.
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As noted previously, over the next six to twelve months, ASX and Digital Asset will reportedly build a blockchain that will run in parallel to the existing CHESS system.
Banks are also reportedly focusing on applying a distributed ledger to a specific operation – clearing and settlement.
The Scottish Golfer
An 80 year old Scotsman goes to the doctor for a check-up.
The doctor is amazed at what good shape the guy is in and asks, “How do you stay in such great physical condition”?
“I’m Scottish and I’m a golfer”, says the old guy “and that’s why I’m in such good shape. I’m up well before daylight and out golfing up and down the fairways. I have a wee glass of whisky and all is well.”
“Well”, says the doctor, “I’m sure that helps but there’s got to be more to it. How old was your Dad when he died”?
“Who said my Dad’s dead”?
The doctor is amazed. “You mean you’re 80 years old and your Dad’s still alive. How old is he”?
“He’s 100 years old”, says the old Scottish golfer. “In fact, he golfed with me this morning and then he went to the topless beach for a walk and had a wee dram and that’s why he’s still alive. He’s Scottish and he’s a golfer too.”
“Well”, the doctor says, “that’s great but I’m sure there’s more to it than that. How about your Dad’s Dad? How old was he when he died”?
“Who said my grandad’s dead”?
Stunned, the doctor asks, “You mean you’re 80 years old and your grandfather’s still living! Incredible, how old is he”?
“He’s 118 years old”, says the old Scottish golfer.
The doctor is getting frustrated at this point. “So, I guess he went golfing with you this morning, too”?
“No. Grandad couldn’t go this morning because he’s getting married today”.
At this point the doctor is close to losing it.
“Getting married! Why would a 118 year old guy want to get married”?
“Who said he wanted to”?
Please advise the Secretary or your state representative if you have any items you wish to have discussed at the meeting.
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Securities Registrars Association of Australia Inc
ABN 52 057 832 827
State Division Meeting Dates - 2016
Victorian Division 1 February 1 August
7 March 5 September
4 April 10 October
2 May 7 November
6 June 5 December (optional)
4 July
New South Wales Division
Meetings held at 12:30 pm 1 February 1 August
at: Australian Stock Exchange Ltd 7 March 5 September
Level 1 4 April 10 October
20 Bridge Street 2 May 7 November
Sydney 6 June 5 December (optional)
4 July
Queensland Division 1 February 1 August
7 March 5 September
4 April 10 October
2 May 7 November
6 June 5 December (optional)
4 July
Western Australian Division
Meetings held at 10:30 am 10 February
at: Venue to be advised 13 April
8 June
10 August
12 October
14 December
South Australian Division 1 February 1 August
7 March 5 September
4 April 10 October
2 May 7 November
6 June 5 December (optional)
4 July
Annual General Meeting – 1 April 2016