Government's policy conclusions last March on how to improve regulation of listing in Hong Kong. The Government's proposals for public consultation would make certain amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO). The SFC's proposals for public consultation relate to amendments to the Securities and Futures (Stock Market Listing) Rules (SMLR) as subsidiary legislation under the SFO. The proposed new amendments to the SMLR would codify existing important requirements in the Listing Rules of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited covering three areas. They follow the Government's policy direction as stated in its March 2004 Consultation Conclusions:  disclosure of information and specific events;  disclosure/publication of annual and periodic reports, including annual and interim accounts; and  disclosure of, and shareholders' approval for, notifiable transactions and connected transactions. In codifying the more important requirements of the Listing into provisions in the SMLR, the SFC followed four general principles:  the requirements relate only to disclosure. They do not include Listing Rules dealing with issues of corporate governance;  there are no substantive changes from the present Listing Rules, other than in a few instances which are individually analysed and explained;  there are no pre-vetting or approval requirements. Listed companies which follow the SMLR would not have any extra compliance or administrative burden; and  the Stock Exchange will remain the frontline regulator and continue to receive applications and other disclosure materials, and administer the processing. Details of the SFC's proposals are set out in the document, “A Consultation Paper on Proposed Amendments to the Securities and Futures (Stock Market Listing) Rules”. The consultation paper is available on the SFC website at: http://eapp01.sfc.hk/apps/cf/smlr.nsf/eng/main
On 4 January 2005 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released a draft Prudential Standard and Discussion Paper for public consultation on establishing and operating a Compliance Committee for life insurance branches registered in Australia. The purpose of the proposed Committee is to provide greater assurance that branches will comply with the prudential requirements placed upon entities registered to conduct life insurance business in Australia. The proposal forms part of the amendments to the Life Insurance Act 1995 (the Life Act) resulting from the Free Trade Agreement negotiated this year between Australia and the United States. Key points contained in the proposed standard include: (a) the Board of Directors (the Board) of a foreign life company with a registered Australian branch must delegate sufficient powers of management to the Committee to enable it to ensure the branch complies with the Life Act; and (b) ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with Australia’s prudential regime remains with the Board. To this end, the Board must: (i) have the to appoint and remove the members of the Committee at its discretion, subject to certain composition and residency requirements as outlined in the standard; (ii) ensure the delegation of managerial powers is not irrevocable and does not exclude, if necessary, the Board from exercising these powers; and (iii) establish adequate procedures for monitoring and supervising the operations of the Committee, as well as assessing its performance. APRA will consider extending this proposal to the branches of foreign general insurers in due course. A copy of the standard and discussion paper is available on the APRA website at: 1.10 ASIC and APRA consult the funds management industry on good practice in unit pricing On 23 December 2004 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments