National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES.

1939. No. 149

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REGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT 1939.*

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the National Security Act 1939.

Dated this Fourteenth

day of November , 1939.

(SGD.) GOWRIE.

Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

for Minister of State for Defence Co-ordination.

———

National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations.

Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations.

Repeal.

2.—(1.) The National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations (being Statutory Rules 1939, No. 117) are repealed.

(2.) Any consent granted or order made under the repealed Regulations shall continue in force as if these Regulations had not been made, and shall for all purposes be deemed to be a consent granted or order made under these Regulations.

Definitions.

3. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—

“local authority” includes—

(a) any city, municipal, district or shire council; and

(b)any water board, electricity board, sewerage board, harbour board, transport board or roads board constituted by or under the law of a State,

and any other like body which the Treasurer, by order, declares to be a local authority for the purposes of these Regulations;

“securities” includes shares, stock, bonds, debentures and debenture stock, but does not include bills of exchange or promissory notes;

“the repealed Regulations” means the Regulations repealed by these Regulations.

* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on , 1939.

6427—9/14.11.1939.—Price 5d.

Formation of companies.

4. A person shall not, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer, make any application for the registration of any company, or of any society, club or association having for its object, or one of its objects, the pecuniary profit or gain of its members, which is proposed to be registered with a nominal capital exceeding Two thousand five hundred pounds.

Increase in capital of companies.

5.—(1.) A company, or any person acting for, or on behalf of, a company, shall not, in any period of twelve months commencing from any date after the thirteenth day of October, 1939, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer—

(a)increase the nominal capital of the company by an amount exceeding Two thousand five hundred pounds;

(b)make an issue of authorized capital of the company of an amount exceeding Two thousand five hundred pounds; or

(c) make a call upon shares issued by the company so that the total amount of the calls made by the company in that period would exceed Two thousand five hundred pounds.

(2.) In this regulation, “company” includes a society, club or association formed for the purposes of pecuniary profit or gain, which is registered in Australia or carries on business or operates in Australia, though not registered therein.

Application for consent of Treasurer.

6. An application for the consent of the Treasurer under regulation 4 or regulation 5 of these Regulations shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by particulars in writing of the proposal for the registration, or the reasons for the proposed increase in nominal capital, or for the issue of authorized capital or for the making of any call upon shares, as the case may be, together with such further information as the Treasurer directs.

Securities, &c., not to be issued without consent.

7.—(1.) A body, whether corporate or unincorporate, other than a partnership, shall not, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer, issue any securities or mortgage or charge the whole or any part of its property or assets.

(2.) An application for the consent of the Treasurer under this regulation shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by particulars in writing of the purpose of the proposed issue, mortgage or charge and such other information as the Treasurer directs.

(3.) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent or affect in any way—

(a) any transaction, in respect of an advance made bona fide by any bank in the ordinary course of business, on such security as the bank usually requires, provided the advance is repayable on demand;

(b)the issue of any securities, or the giving of any mortgage or charge, by any local authority—

(i) to the Government of a State; or

(ii) to any person other than the Government of a State so that the total amount of securities so issued and mortgages and charges so given by that body during any period of twelve months commencing from any date after the thirteenth day of October, 1939, does not exceed Twenty-five thousand pounds; or

(c) the giving of any mortgage or charge by any body (other that a local authority) so that the total amount of mortgages and charges given by that body during any period of twelve months commencing from any date after the thirteenth day of October, 1939, does not exceed Five thousand pounds.

(4.) A bank shall not, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer, transfer any shares, stock, bonds, debentures or debenture stock issued to it after the thirteenth day of October, 1939, in connexion with any transaction of the kind specified in paragraph (a)of sub-regulation (3.) of this regulation, except—

(a)by way of discharge, to the body to which an advance was made in pursuance of the terms of the transaction; or

(b) to a guarantor who, in pursuance of the terms of his guarantee, has repaid to the bank the whole or part of the moneys due to the bank under the transaction.

(5.) The Treasurer, or any person thereto authorized by the Treasurer, may require any person or class of persons—

(a)to furnish to the Treasurer or the person so authorized such information as he requires with respect to advances made to any body or class of bodies; and

(b)to attend and give evidence before the Treasurer or the person so authorized concerning any such advances,

and may require him to produce all books, documents and other papers whatever in his custody or under his control relating to any such advances.

(6.) The Treasurer or person so authorized may require the information or evidence to be given on oath or affirmation and either orally or in writing and for that purpose the Treasurer or person so authorized may administer an oath.

(7.) A person shall not refuse or fail to comply with any requirement made in pursuance of sub-regulation (5.) or sub-regulation (6.) of this regulation.

(8.) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a)whereby, or as a result of, the exercise of any borrowing power of a body, the whole or any part of the assets of that body becomes mortgaged or charged, the exercise of that power shall be deemed to be the giving of a mortgage or charge and the amount in respect of which the assets of that body become mortgaged or charged shall be deemed to be the amount of the mortgage or charge; and

(b)the extension of the term of a mortgage or charge shall be deemed a mortgage or charge, but nothing in this regulation shall be deemed to prevent or affect the giving of any such extension or the renewal of a mortgage or charge where the parties to the extension or renewal are the same as the original parties to the mortgage or charge, and the rate of interest payable under the extension or renewal does not exceed the rate provided in the mortgage or charge.

(9.) For the purposes of sub-regulation (8.) of this regulation—

(a) a mortgage or charge shall be deemed to be renewed if the principal sum secured thereby is not repaid but becomes repayable under another mortgage or charge; and

(b) “the rate provided in the mortgage or charge” means the rate of interest provided in the mortgage or charge, or, where a reduced rate of interest is provided in the case of punctual payment, means that reduced rate, but shall not in any case be construed to refer to any increased rate of interest stipulated to be paid in any contingency.

Interest rate not to be increased in certain cases.

8.—(1.) A bank shall not, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer—

(a) charge interest on any advance made by the bank and existing on the thirty-first day of August, 1939, at a rate above the rate of interest on the advance in force on that date; or

(b) charge, on any advance made after that date, interest at a rate exceeding the rate of interest charged by the bank on that date in respect of similar advances to its customers.

(2.) Any sum charged as interest in contravention of the provisions of the last preceding sub-regulation shall be a debt due by the bank to whom it was paid to the person by whom it was paid, and may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(3.) The interest payable on any advance made by a bank in respect of any period after the commencement of these Regulations shall not exceed interest payable at the rate chargeable under sub-regulation (1.) of this regulation, and the remedies for enforcing any covenant or agreement to pay interest on any such advances shall be limited to enforcing payment of interest at the rate so chargeable.

Registration of companies not to be removed without consent.

9. A person shall not, without the consent in writing of the Treasurer, take, or continue to take, any step towards the removal of the place of registration of a company from Australia to any place outside Australia.

Consent of Treasurer.

10.—(1.) Where application is made for the consent of the Treasurer under any provision of these Regulations, the Treasurer may, in his absolute discretion, grant the consent, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, or refuse to grant the consent.

(2.) Where the consent of the Treasurer is granted subject to conditions, a person, company, society, club, association or body shall comply with all such conditions as are applicable to him or it.

Use of consent.

11.—(1.) A company, society, club, association or body or any person on its behalf, shall not, in furtherance of the objects of the company, society, club, association or body, make use of the fact of any consent of the Treasurer granted under these Regulations or the repealed Regulations.

(2.) A company, society, club, association or body, or any person on its behalf, which, or who makes any intimation, whether orally, in writing or in any other way, of the fact of the Treasurer’s consent to an application under these Regulations or the repealed Regulations shall include in the intimation a statement in the following terms or in terms of the like effect:—

“The fact that the Treasurer of the Commonwealth has consented to [here insert particulars of the matters consented to by the Treasurer]is not to be taken in any way as a guarantee of the actual or probable financial stability or success of the company (or society, club, association or body, as the case may be).”.

Declaration of secrecy.

12.—(1.) Every officer having duties connected with applications made under any of these Regulations or of the repealed Regulations, shall, unless he has made a declaration of secrecy under regulation 9 of the repealed regulations, before entering upon his duties, make before a Justice of the Peace, a Commissioner for taking affidavits or a Commissioner for Declarations, a declaration of secrecy in accordance with the Form in the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2.) An officer shall not, except in the course of his duty or to an officer who has made a declaration in accordance with the provisions of this regulation, or of regulation 9 of the repealed regulations, divulge any information furnished in connexion with any application made under these Regulations or under the repealed Regulations.

False statements.

13. A person shall not make to the Treasurer, or to any officer having duties connected with applications under any of these Regulations, any statement, whether oral or in writing, relating to any matter dealt with under these Regulations which he knows to be untrue in any particular or which is made by him without his having first made proper inquiries to ascertain the truth thereof.

Exemption.

14.—(1.) The Treasurer may, by order (either wholly or to the extent specified in the order) exempt from the application of the whole or any of the provisions of these, Regulations any person, company, society, club, association or body, or class of persons, companies, societies, clubs, associations or bodies, or any security, mortgage, or charge or class of securities, mortgages or charges.

(2.) An order made under this regulation may, be expressed to continue in operation for a period specified in the order and, if so expressed, shall continue in operation for that period and no longer.

Remedies in respect of past transactions.

15. Where at any time during the operation of the repealed Regulations a bank has made an advance to any body, whether corporate or unincorporate, in pursuance of the terms of any transaction which, if these Regulations had been in force at the time the advance was made, would have been a valid transaction, then the bank shall have all such rights, powers and remedies as it would have had if these Regulations had been in force at the time the advance was made.

Delegation.

16.—(1.) The Treasurer may, in relation to any matters or class of matters, or in relation to any particular State or part of Australia, by writing under his hand, delegate all or any of his powers and functions under these Regulations (except this power of delegation) so that the delegated powers or functions may be exercised by the delegate with respect to the matters or class of matters, or the State or part of Australia, specified in the instrument of delegation.

(2.) Every delegation under this regulation shall be revocable at will, and no delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power or function by the Treasurer.

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Regulation 12.

THE SCHEDULE.

National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations.

DECLARATION BY OFFICER.

I, , of , being an officer having duties connected with applications made Under the National Security (Capital Issues) Regulations, do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that, except in the course of my duty, or to an officer who has made this declaration, I will not divulge any information which is furnished to me or to the Treasurer in connexion with those duties.

Dated this day of  , 19 .

(Signature of officer.)

Declared at this day of , 19 .

Before me—

(Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for taking

Affidavits or Commissioner for Declarations.)

 

By Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra