Duties of the committee
1.1
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (the committee) is established by Part 14 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (the ASIC Act). Section 243 of the ASIC Act sets out the committee's duties as follows:
(a)
to inquire into, and report to both Houses on:
(i)
activities of ASIC or the [Takeovers] Panel, or matters connected with such activities, to which, in the Parliamentary Committee's opinion, the Parliament's attention should be directed; or
(ii)
the operation of the corporations legislation (other than the excluded provisions); or
(iii)
the operation of any other law of the Commonwealth, or any law of a State or Territory, that appears to the Parliamentary Committee to affect significantly the operation of the corporations legislation (other than the excluded provisions); or
(iv)
the operation of any foreign business law, or of any other law of a foreign country, that appears to the Parliamentary Committee to affect significantly the operation of the corporations legislation (other than the excluded provisions); and
(b)
to examine each annual report that is prepared by a body established by this Act and of which a copy has been laid before a House, and to report to both Houses on matters that appear in, or arise out of, that annual report and to which, in the Parliamentary Committee's opinion, the Parliament's attention should be directed; and
(c)
to inquire into any question in connection with its duties that is referred to it by a House, and to report to that House on that question.
1.2
These duties serve as the terms of reference for this inquiry.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.3
The committee advertised this inquiry on its webpage.
1.4
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many of the public hearings were held via video conference, with other hearings held in Canberra and one hearing in Sydney (19 November 2019).
1.5
Public hearings were held on the following dates:
1.6
The committee received five submissions, which are listed in Appendix 1. The witnesses who gave evidence at the public hearings are listed in Appendix 2. Details of the inquiry and associated documents, including the Hansard transcripts of evidence, may be accessed through the committee’s webpage.
Structure of the report
1.7
This report is divided into the following chapters:
Chapter 1 provides administrative information about the inquiry;
Chapter 2 considers ASIC’s governance framework; and
Chapter 3 considers supply chain finance.
Acknowledgements
1.8
The committee thanks all individuals and organisations who assisted with the inquiry, especially those who made written submissions and participated in the public hearings.
Notes on references
1.9
References to the committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard. Page numbers may vary relative to the official Hansard.