Level: Essential   Points: 0

BJohn Currie
Partner, Henry Davis York

Lucinda McCann
Senior Associate, Henry Davis York

In August 2009 the Australian Government announced a major reform to the regulation of Australia’s financial markets, under which ASX will lose its role as a market supervisor and ASIC will supervise real-time trading on all of Australia’s domestic licensed markets for all types of financial products. Subsequently, the Government has introduced the Corporations Amendment (Financial Market Supervision) Bill 2010 (Bill) into Parliament to give effect to the proposed reform. This seminar will consider, examine and comment on:

• KThe additional powers granted to ASIC under the Bill, including the power to make “market integrity rules” with respect to trading on licensed domestic Australian markets;
• ASIC’s proposed draft market integrity rules, which appear to be largely based on the existing ASX Market Rules; and
• ASIC’s additional powers to enforce such rules, along with the new disciplinary being contemplated by ASIC, whereby ASIC will determine whether or not to pursue civil or alternative proceedings for a breach of the market integrity rules.