News

Proposed  legislation has been introduced into Parliament, intended to expand the existing category of foreign residents who are eligible to access the reduced withholding tax rates under the Managed Investment Trust (MIT) regime. Under Australia’s existing MIT regime, foreign residents are eligible to be taxed at a reduced withholding tax rate of 15 per cent…

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) recently published a submission into the collapse of forestry managed investment schemes between 2009 and 2012. Whilst the submission primarily focused on forestry schemes, it also provides insight to operators, promoters and distributors of managed investment schemes generally. Key themes included: The need for a compensation system ASIC…

ASIC recently released a consultation paper on relief for externally administered companies and registered schemes being wound up. The main purpose of Consultation Paper 223 (Relief for externally administered companies and registered schemes being wound up – RG 174 update) (CP 223) is to consult on some practical improvements that ASIC can make to its…

The NSW Government has announced the removal to its Significant Investor Visa (SIV) requirement to invest a minimum of $1.5 million dollars in Waratah Bonds as part of a SIV nomination to reside in NSW. NSW Treasurer said that from 1 September, applicants seeking NSW nomination will be able to invest 100 percent of their…

On 28 August 2014, the ATO will release Taxpayer Alert TA 2014/1, casting doubt on the tax treatment of property development structures that use trusts to stream discounted capital gains from the sale of the developed property to the trust’s beneficiaries. Specifically, Taxpayer Alert TA 2014/1 calls into question the tax treatment of gains realised…

An area of controversy over the last 10 years has been the classification of a superannuation investor as either retail or wholesale. If a financial service does not relate to a superannuation product, the general tests for determining whether the superannuation trustee is a retail or wholesale client can apply. For example, the trustee will…

Effective 1 July 2014, the Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Future of Financial Advice) Regulation 2014(Cth), has been registered resulting in the following regulatory amendments: removal of the Opt-In requirement; Fee Disclosure Statements to apply prospectively –from 1 July 2013 only; removing the requirement to satisfy section 961B(2)(g) (the “catch-all” provision) from the best interests duty; banning…

Independent Australian funds management service provider One Investment Group has been quietly chipping away at the competition. Set up in 2009 in the middle of the GFC to provide corporate trustee services to a number of distressed funds that were caught up in the liquidity crisis, the business has grown from a handful of funds…

ASIC has issued its updated Regulatory Guide 107 (Fund Raising: Facilitating electronic offers of securities) (RG 107) with respect to the use and distribution of electronic disclosure documents following the release of a consultation paper in July 2013. Companies looking to raise capital quickly will benefit from an ease in compliance requirements, with this updated…

On 6 March 2014, the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (“CAMAC”) released a discussion paper on managed investment schemes (“MIS”).  The discussion paper follows an earlier  report on MISs by CAMAC in 2012. The current discussion paper deals primarily with the establishment and ongoing operation of schemes and raises a broad range of governance, disclosure…