ASIC grants relief for share and interest sale facilities

ASIC has announced class order relief from provisions of the Corporations Act
to facilitate the operation of certain share and interest
sale facilities. This relief is provided in ASIC Class Order
CO 08/10 Share and interest sale facilities and explained here .

ASIC has also released Regulatory Guide 161 Share and interest sale facilities (RG 161), which explains the relief given in CO 08/10, and ASIC’s approach for sale facilities not covered by the class order.

Share and interest sale facilities are facilities
that some companies and issuers of interests in managed investment
schemes offer to their members from time to time. These sale facilities
can provide an easy and cheap way for their members, especially those
with small holdings, to dispose of their holdings at or near their
current market value.

CO 08/10 provides relief from a range of provisions
of the Act. This will allow companies and product issuers to offer
certain sale facilities and related facilities for the purchase of
shares or interests, and reduce costs for those companies and product
issuers by removing the need for them to apply to ASIC for individual
relief before offering such facilities to their members.

The relief only applies to facilities where the
shares or interests are sold in the ordinary course of trading on a
licensed market or approved foreign market. The relief is also subject
to other limitations and conditions. The details are set out in RG 161
and the class order.

If an issuer proposes to operate a sale facility that is not covered by the class order relief, it can apply for individual relief.

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