The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, the Hon Bernie Ripoll MP, is pleased to announce the release of draft Regulations that will implement a key part of the Government's plans to reform and modernise Australia's insolvency framework and has welcomed the passage of legislation that will improve access to the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS).
The Corporations Amendment (Phoenixing and Other Measures) Bill 2012 was passed by Parliament on 9 May 2012.
"Passage of this Bill will benefit the employees of abandoned companies by facilitating access to their unpaid entitlements through the government's employee assistance scheme," said Mr Ripoll.
The Bill empowers the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to order the winding up of companies that directors abandon in the context of fraudulent phoenixing, allowing workers to access their entitlements under GEERS.
This delivers on one of the measures contained in the Gillard Government's Protecting Workers' Entitlements election commitment.
"I am pleased that this measure delivers a key election commitment. The Gillard Labor Government will always act to protect the rights and entitlements of workers."
"I expect ASIC to release draft guidance for public comment on how and when it will exercise this important new power," said Mr Ripoll.
"The Bill also paves the way for the publication of corporate insolvency notices via a single, publicly available website. This will benefit creditors of companies in external administration, by reducing the costs of complying with these regulatory obligations," said Mr Ripoll.
The Bill implements an important part of the Government's insolvency reform package by facilitating the establishment of a corporate insolvency notices website will reduce the costs borne by companies under external administration and will also provide a central repository for creditors with information on upcoming corporate insolvency events.
The draft Regulations containing the new requirements to lodge documents with ASIC for publication on the ASIC Insolvency Notices website and the Regulations containing details of the fees for lodgement have been released for consultation and are able to be viewed at www.treasury.gov.au. The closing date for submissions is 1 June 2012.
The website will commence on 1 July and is expected to replace 53,000 newspaper advertisements over the next four years, delivering an estimated $15 million in savings to industry over the same period.
The draft Corporations Legislation Amendment Regulation 2012 can be accessed on the Treasury website, www.treasury.gov.au. Submissions are due by 1 June 2012.
16 May 2012