EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Proclamation
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law
Corporations Amendment (Financial Market Supervision) Act 2010
Subsection 2(1) of the Corporations Amendment (Financial Markets Supervision) Act 2010 (the Act) provides that Schedule 1 of the Act commences on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provisions do not take effect within 12 months of the day the Act received Royal Assent, the provisions are repealed on the day after the end of the period. The Act received Royal Assent on 25 March 2010.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 1 August 2010 as the day on which
Schedule 1 of the Act commences.
The Act amends the Corporations Act 2001. It gives the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) the responsibility for supervising domestically licensed financial markets and the regulatory powers to do so effectively. Previously, this responsibility rested primarily with market operators themselves. It empowers the minister to make regulations to this end; including granting ASIC the power to levy appropriate penalties against parties who infringe the regulations.
The commencement date allows the regulator (ASIC) to have sufficient systems in place to handle the increase in responsibilities. Schedule 1 to the Act was to be brought into effect after the Act had been passed to provide ASIC and industry stakeholders sufficient time to construct an appropriate regulatory framework to match the intent of the Act.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.