AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Michael Lawson, Nicole Brown, Lizzie White and Tamaryn Leach, MinterEllison
The investor protection rules also include pro - visions designed to protect retail clients. In addition to the prescribed product disclosure requirements discussed in 3.1.4 Disclosure Requirements , these include obligations regard - ing dispute resolution systems, compensation and breaches of PDS obligations. In addition to the above, the new DDO regime applies to product issuers and distributors. Please see 4.1 Recent Developments and Pro- posals for Reform . 3.3.11 Approach of the Regulator The provision of financial services in Australia is regulated and licensed by ASIC, which is an independent Australian government body estab - lished and administered under the Australian Securities and Investments Commissions Act 2001 (Cth) (the “ASIC Act”). ASIC’s relationship with entities that are licensed or providing financial services in Australia is gen - erally of an ad hoc nature, as opposed to an ongoing one, and usually arises in the context of specific circumstances or matters (for example, in response to lodgement of a breach report). While entities will generally not be assigned a designated officer for their relationship with the regulator, it is often possible to reach out to ASIC to discuss or obtain feedback on certain mat - ters. 3.4 Operational Requirements There are a number of operational requirements that should be considered in the context of an Australian retail fund. Obligations as a Responsible Entity of an Australian Retail Fund An Australian retail fund structured as a reg - istered managed investment scheme must be
operated by its responsible entity in accordance with its constitution, compliance plan and the provisions of the Corporations Act. While the Corporations Act does not prescribe the types of assets that may be held by, or the types of investors that may invest in, an Australian retail fund, as discussed in 3.1.2 Common Process for Setting Up Investment Funds , the Corpora - tions Act does prescribe certain matters to be addressed in the content of the constitution and compliance plan. ASIC provides additional guid - ance in relation to these matters. From an operational perspective, some of the key considerations will include: • the issue and redemption pricing for units in the fund; • the valuation of fund assets; and • the holding of fund assets by the responsible entity itself or a custodian. Similar to a registered managed investment scheme, a retail CCIV must be operated by its corporate director in accordance with its consti - tution, compliance plan and the provisions of the Corporations Act. Obligations as an AFSL Holder As an AFSL holder, the Australian retail fund’s responsible entity or corporate director will be required to comply with certain statutory obli - gations. Please see 2.4 Operational Require- ments . ASIC provides guidance regarding compliance with these requirements, which should be con - sidered when developing relevant policies and procedures to address these matters.
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