Thumbs up to Singaporean investment schemes
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued a class order that effectively grants Australian retail investors access to authorised Singaporean collective investment schemes.
Class Order (CO 07/753): Singaporean collective investment schemes affords the operators of schemes authorised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) conditional relief from Australian managed investment registration and financial services licence requirements as well as from certain product disclosure requirements under the Corporations Act.
In a statement to media, ASIC stated that the relief accords with its policy on recognising foreign collective investment schemes, set out in Regulatory Guide 178: Foreign collective investment schemes (RG 178).
RG 178 affords conditional registration, licensing and product disclosure relief to foreign collective investment schemes where:
> the operator’s home regulatory regime is sufficiently similar to Australia’s;
> ASIC has co-operation agreements with the home regulator; and
> Australian investors have access to a dispute resolutions process should the foreign operator breach its home regulations.
CO 07/753 is subject to the standard conditions of relief set out in RG 178. ASIC also requires Singaporean operators, their agents and representatives relying on the relief to comply with the Singaporean regulatory regime regarding their dealings in Australia.
Singaporean operators are also required to meet Australian requirements for dispute resolution.
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