The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is seeking comment on the possible removal of relief from disclosing certain information in the financial reports of authorised trustee corporations and their wholly owned subsidiaries.
The discontinuation of the relief would mean these entities would be required by accounting standards to disclose trust liabilities and the right of indemnity from trust assets in the notes to their financial reports.
ASIC is considering removing the relief for years commencing on or after January 1 2005.
By that time the Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards will apply.
ASIC is particularly interested in comments about the extent of any burden on authorised trustee corporations and their wholly owned subsidiaries in obtaining information, having regard to:
- Systems developments since relief was initially granted by the National Companies and Securities Commission in 1985; and
- The impact of the introduction of the single responsible entity under the Managed Investments Act 1998, which means relevant financial records are less likely to be maintained by third party managers.
Submissions should be sent to Doug Niven, Deputy Chief Accountant, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, GPO Box 9827, Sydney NSW 2001.
The closing date for submissions is September 15.