Extension of class order relief for Business Introduction or Matching Services without significant amendments – Australian Securities and Investments Commission
On 20 March 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) extended the relief provided by ASIC Corporations (Repeal and Transitional) Instrument 2017/186 (the Instrument), without significant amendment, for a period of 3 years until 1 April 2022.
The Instrument provides conditional exemptions from the fundraising and debenture requirements in the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) for persons involved in making or calling attention to offers of securities through a business introduction service. It intends to facilitate the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by reducing the regulatory burden of small-scale fundraising and assist SMEs to locate potential investors.
Due to the infancy of the crowd-sourced funding (CSF) regime (which came into effect in September 2017 for public companies, and in October 2018 for eligible proprietary companies), ASIC considers there is an ongoing need for the relief provided by the Instrument while it continues assess the extent of its interaction with the CSF regime.
Consistent with Government’s best practice regulation requirements for sunsetting instruments, ASIC has assessed the Instrument as operating effectively and efficiently. Therefore, a Regulation Impact Statement is not required for remaking this class order without significant amendments.