The Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, the Hon Peter Dutton, has today released an exposure draft of the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Regulation and Review) Bill 2007 for industry comment.
“The Government is committed to cutting red-tape in prudential regulation and has been working in close consultation with industry to design practical ways to do so” Mr Dutton said.
“This Bill reflects those discussions and builds on the Government’s commitment to cutting red-tape as indicated in our response to the Bank’s Inquiry and our subsequent discussion paper Streamlining Prudential Regulation: Response to Rethinking Regulation.”
“Claims by Kevin Rudd in his under-whelming speech last night that the Government has done nothing on cutting red-tape are clearly wrong. It’s another example of where Kevin Rudd doesn’t have a grasp of the detail and can’t be bothered to check.”
“If he talked with industry, instead of just promising too, then he would have known that industry has been working with Government on these reforms for a number of months” Mr Dutton said.
The Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Regulation and Review) Bill 2007 contains a number of proposals to streamline and simplify prudential regulation in a manner that is consistent with the findings of the Bank’s Inquiry Report, including
- streamlined breach reporting;
- flexibility through exemption powers, enforceable undertakings and discretion under prudential standards;
- simpler processes for appointing actuaries and auditors and enhanced cooperation with professional bodies; and
- proposals simplifying the Life Insurance Act 1995 and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.
The draft Bill also includes amendments implementing the Government’s response to the Review of Part 23 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.
The Government invites interested parties to comment on the draft Bill by 30 May 2007. Further information is available at www.treasury.gov.au.