An address by Alan Cameron, AM, Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the National Council Luncheon of the Trustee Corporations Association of Australia, Sydney, 31 March 2000.
Introduction
It is a pleasure to address the Trustee Corporations Association of Australia once again. On previous occasions I have addressed what were, at the time, current issues of regulation affecting the Association. None of those issues however would have had as significant an impact on the membership of the Association as the topic for discussion today. That topic is, of course, an update on Managed Investments: the approaching end of the transition period; where ASIC is up to with the implementation of the new legislation; what ASIC has experienced to date as a result of the legislation, including a look at such things as mortgage investment schemes and serviced strata schemes, which have needed to comply with the new regime and investor directed portfolio services.
It is important to note also that the implementation of the managed investments legislation has not occurred in a vacuum. CLERP arrived on March 13 and the consumer protection regime has also taken effect, both of which have impacted on Managed Investments. The current volatility and complexity of the market with a growing number of confident Australian shareholders and a boom in high tech stocks have also made an impact as has the current debate over the constitutional validity of the Corporations Law: all are worthy topics for discussion.