FSRB finally to see light of day

Financial Services Minister Joe Hockey is set to introduce the Financial Services Reform Bill (FSRB) to federal parliament as soon as next week.

The move follows the sudden withdrawal of the Bill in late November just days before many in the industry expected it to be introduced into parliament. At the time, Hockey said the Bill would be on hold "indefinitely".

The Minister's office has confirmed that Hockey will return to Parliament when it resumes on February 6 and is likely to introduce the bill in the following days. According to a spokesperson, Hockey will only sit in Parliament for three days before heading overseas for two weeks and as such is keen to get some movement on the issue within that time frame.

However, if passed, the bill will only have jurisdiction in NSW and Victoria.

This is the result of a meeting late in December last year between the Prime Minister John Howard and Hockey with NSW and Victorian Premiers Bob Carr and Steve Bracks as well as the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian Attorneys General.

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This meeting resolved the issue of the states handing some corporate regulation powers over to the Federal Government by removing those sections concerned with industrial relations. As such, a referral of powers will need to be approved through Parliament before the FSRB can become active.

However, since the remaining states have not agreed to these changes, the FSRB will not have any affect outside NSW and Victoria. Hockey will continue to work to gain agreement from the remaining states in a bid to make the legislation uniform and national.

The bill was originally slated to start on January 1st but this date was revised to become the date of introduction into Parliament after the proposed legislation was stalled by the states.

The date for the bill to become active was not confirmed by the Minister's office but is widely expected that a start date of July 1st is the target.