ASIC levels playing field
Jeremy Cooper
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has moved to clarify the status of retail investors with respect to non-traditional rights issues.
The regulator announced this week that, consistent with an anomaly identified by its Retail Investor Taskforce, it had given class order relief ensuring that non-traditional rights issue structures were covered by the prospectus and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) exemptions for rights issues.
Commenting on the move, ASIC deputy chairman Jeremy Cooper said the aim of the disclosure exemption was to encourage companies to use pro rata rights issues rather than placements, so that retail investors could participate.
He said the regulator considered that any rights issue should fall within the disclosure exemption where it provided an equal opportunity to all holders to participate and did not compromise retail investor protection.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.
