The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Chris Pearce, today announced the reappointment of ten members and the appointment of five new members to the Takeovers Panel.
The purpose of the Takeovers Panel is to provide a mechanism for peer review of takeovers activity, with the aim of being more efficient, less formal and more expeditious than the courts. The functions and powers of the Panel are conferred on it by the Corporations Act 2001 and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001.
The following ten members have been reappointed as members of the Panel: Ms Robyn Ahern, MsElizabeth Alexander AM, Mr Denis Byrne, Mr Brett Heading, Ms Marian Micalizzi, MrMarkPaganin, Professor Ian Ramsay, Ms Jennifer Seabrook, Mr Simon Withers and MsKarenWood.
The following five new members were also appointed:
- Mr Martin Alciaturi, Head of Corporate Finance, Ernst & Young, Perth;
- Mr Robert Johanson, Director of Grant Samuel and Bendigo Bank Ltd, Melbourne;
- Mr John Keeves, Partner, Johnson Winter and Slattery, Adelaide;
- Mr Gary Watts, Chairman of Partners, Fisher Jeffries, Adelaide; and
- Ms Heather Zampatti, Head of Wealth Management, Bell Potter Securities Limited, Perth.
Members are usually appointed to the Panel for a period of three years.
These appointments continue the high levels of skills and experience available to the Takeovers Panel, ensuring that it has appropriately qualified members to deal with the differing issues which are raised in applications.
Mr Pearce said, “I would like to express my appreciation to these new and reappointed members, and to other current and previous members, for their commitment to the Panel. The skills and experience of the Panel members will help ensure that the Panel continues to provide a fair and timely means of dispute resolution regarding takeovers activity”.
The Panel now has 48 members, all of whom are appointed on a part-time basis.
CANBERRA
24 May 2006
Media contact: Gillian Harvey 03 9887 3890 or 0411 567 060