EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Select Legislative Instrument 2007 No. 118
Issued by authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 1)
Paragraph 56(5)(a) of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act) permits specified agencies to have access to certain protected information from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Paragraph 5(j) of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Regulations 1998 (APRA Regulations) provided that “the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) established by section 35 of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988” (FTR Act) is a specified agency for the purposes of paragraph 56(5)(a) of the APRA Act.
In December 2006, the FTR Act was repealed and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) was enacted in its place. The AML/CTF Act continues the establishment of AUSTRAC.
Therefore the reference to the FTR Act was incorrect, potentially invalidating any activity under this section.
In order to continue AUSTRAC’s access to this information under the APRA Act, paragraph 5(j) of the APRA Regulations was amended to replace section 35 of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 with section 209(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.
The regulation was deemed a technical amendment by the Office of Regulatory Review; therefore no Regulatory Impact Statement was required to be prepared.
The Regulations commenced on the day after registration.