EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1987 NO. 81
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL
COMPANIES (ACQUISITION OF SHARES - FEES) REGULATIONS
(AMENDMENT)
Sub-section 5(1) of the Companies (Acquisition of Shares - Fees) Act 1980 (“the Act”) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing fees, not in any case exceeding $1,000, for the purposes of sub-section 4(1) of the Act. Sub-section 5(2) of the Act provides that the power of the Governor-General to make regulations shall be exercised only in accordance with advice that is consistent with resolutions of the Ministerial Council for Companies and Securities (“the Council”).
2. The Council was established under an agreement between the Commonwealth and the States, executed on 22 December 1978 (“the agreement”), that provides the framework for a co-operative Commonwealth-State scheme for a uniform system of law and administration in relation to company law and the regulation of the securities and futures industries in the six States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory of Australia.
3. Under sub-clause 45(1) of the agreement, the Council may consider a proposal for the amendment of regulations made
under the Commonwealth Acts enacted for the purpose of the co-operative companies and securities scheme. Should the Council approve any draft amending regulation which gives effect to such a proposal, the Commonwealth is then required, under sub-clause 45(2) of the agreement, to submit the draft regulations to the Federal Executive Council for making by the Governor-General.
4. The accompanying regulations are identical in form and substance to draft regulations approved by the Council.
5. The purpose of the regulations is to amend the Companies (Acquisition of Shares - Fees) Regulations (“the Regulations”)
by substituting a new Schedule of fees for the Schedule of fees that came into operation on 1 July 1986.
6. Details of the accompanying regulations are as follows.
Regulation 1: Commencement
7. This regulation prescribes 1 July 1987 as the date on which the Regulations will come into operation.
Regulation 2: Schedule
8. This regulation inserts in the Regulations a new Schedule of fees that are payable for the purposes of sub-section 4(1) of the Act. That sub-section provides:
“4(1) There shall be paid to the Commonwealth for or in respect of -
(a) the lodgment of documents with the Commission under the Companies (Acquisition of Shares) Act 1980;
(b) the registration of documents under that Act or the inspection or search of registers kept by, or
documents in the custody of, the Commission under that Act;
(c) the production by the Commission, pursuant to a subpoena, of any register kept by, or documents in the custody of, the Commission under that Act;
(d) the issuing of documents or copies of documents, the granting of licences, consents or approvals or the doing of other acts or things by the Ministerial Council or the Commission under that Act; and
(e) the making of inquiries of, or applications to, the Ministerial Council or the Commission in relation to matters arising under that Act,
such fees (if any) as are prescribed.”
9. Subject to the exception set out in the final paragraph, the new Schedule provides for the following levels of fees:
Old Fees | New Fees |
$ | $ |
|
|
65 | 70 |
135 | 150 |
330 | 360 |
10. To obtain the new levels of fees, the old fees were increased by 9.8% (being the increase in the Consumer Price Index between the December quarter of 1985 - on which the old fees are based - and the December quarter of 1986) and rounded as follows:
• between $50 and $200 - to the nearest $5; and
• over $200 - to the nearest $10.
11. The fee for the lodgment of a copy of a Part A statement and a copy of a proposed offer to which the Part A statement relates has been increased from the old levels of $330 and $660 to $1,000 in order to recoup a larger proportion of the costs associated with the examination of such documents.