The Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation Bill Shorten has today released an exposure draft of legislation to implement the third and final element of the Investment Manager Regime (IMR).
This follows the enactment of the first two elements of the IMR last year in the Tax Law Amendment (Investment Manager Regime) Act 2012.
"The IMR regime is a key part of the Gillard Government's commitment to promote Australia as a financial services centre," said the Minister.
"As I indicated last year, these amendments will also ensure that funds are effectively able to trace through to underlying investors for the purposes of applying the widely held and closely held tests."
As recommended by the Australian Financial Centre Forum in their 2009 report, Element 3 completes the IMR regime and will clarify the tax treatment of qualifying widely held foreign funds investing into certain Australian assets.
The exposure draft legislation also seeks to address a number of issues raised by industry in relation to the operation of the first two elements of the regime.
The Minister acknowledged the ongoing and extensive input of the financial services industry into the development of the IMR regime and again welcomed industry's input into the development of this legislation.
The exposure draft legislation and explanatory materials can be found on the Treasury website.
Consultation closes on Friday 26 April.