The Department of the Treasury has today released an initial scoping paper on policy issues raised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) regarding takeovers law.
The Treasury scoping paper will form the basis of a series of targeted roundtables which Treasury will convene with key business, legal and markets stakeholders to discuss ASIC's concerns.
The outcome of the roundtable series will then inform a more comprehensive discussion paper on ASIC's recommendations and potential policy responses, as part of an extensive engagement process with the business community, legal experts and other interested parties.
The Treasury scoping paper notes that Australia's takeovers laws have been largely successful in achieving their policy objectives since their introduction, however, it is important to ensure that the law continues to operate effectively in response to market developments. In particular, ASIC has highlighted a number of areas where it is concerned that the current laws may need modernising.
ASIC has highlighted the areas of creeping acquisitions, the use and disclosure of equity derivatives, clarity of takeover proposals, the issue of association and the impact of new media as areas which may need to be addressed.
The Treasury will undertake a thorough and methodical analysis of the issues involved, based on extended consultation with industry, before providing advice to the Government.
The scoping paper is available on the Treasury website.
5 October 2012