The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue has today presented its report titled The Development of the Australian Corporate Bond Market: A Way Forward.
Corporate bonds are a type of debt security, issued by entities to finance their business operations. In its report, the Committee makes 12 recommendations to support the development of a more active corporate bond market in Australia
The Committee’s recommendations aim to remove barriers to the issuing of corporate bonds as well as raise awareness about the benefits of corporate bonds, both for investors and issuers. Specifically, the Committee’s recommendations include ensuring that investors have access to timely and useful information about corporate bonds, lowering the minimum investment parcel to $1,000 for corporate bonds to improve accessibility to more investors, reviewing the licensing regime for credit rating agencies to minimise access barriers, and streamlining disclosure requirements for the issuing of simple corporate bonds.
The Committee’s recommendations also include proposed amendments to the relevant regulations to allow for the early redemption of simple corporate bonds, as well as a review of Chapter 2L of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) with the aim of increasing the availability of trustees for the retail bond market. Further, the Committee recommends a review of the regulatory reforms implemented in New Zealand’s corporate bond market to further develop and make more liquid Australia’s corporate bond market.
Committee Chair, Mr Jason Falinski MP, advocates for regulatory changes in this space – ‘it is the hope of this Committee that the government will commence implementing recommendations as soon as possible as each recommendation will result in unleashing the considerable power of the corporate bond market in Australia.’
A full copy of the Committee’s report can be found on the inquiry’s website.
Media enquiries
Mr Jason Falinski MP
Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue
Jason.Falinski.MP@aph.gov.au
(02) 6277 2324
For background information
Committee Secretariat
02 6277 4821
TaxRev.Reps@aph.gov.au
For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can, read submissions, find details of upcoming public hearings, and subscribe to receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button on the right side of the page.
