22 May 2020
The ABA has set up a natural disasters work program that reports to our 16 Council members in order to clarify, strengthen and streamline the banking industry’s response to natural disasters to ensure that they have the right tools for the job at the right time.
By the beginning of March 2020, the major banks had provided bushfire assistance grants totalling $7.6 million to more than 4,000 customers across Australia. The banks had also raised more than $42 million in donations to help devastated communities and assisted more than 3,500 customers with financial relief packages of the types described below.
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Currently, significant delay, financial costs and opportunity costs result from the need to sign and witness deeds and statutory declarations on paper; these costs also result from inconsistent and
uncertain regulations under Commonwealth, State and Territory laws.
The ABA strongly advocates for the reforms to remain technology neutral and provide a single, consistent approach to executing deeds and statutory declarations. Otherwise the reforms may make it
harder to use, and therefore disincentivise the use of, electronic execution.
Key points:
• The eligibility requirements to trigger the safe harbour protections are too onerous and should be amended
• Use of the safe harbour should be made more cost effective
• The safe harbour regime would be improved by reducing complexity and providing more certainty in interpretation
• The safe harbour regime should provide for better incentives for the involvement of professional advisers
• Provide for advice to be obtained from a registered liquidator to ensure that it is appropriate
• Increase awareness of the safe harbour regime
• Any changes to the disclosure requirements for safe harbour should recognise that disclosure of the safe harbour restructuring plan is not appropriate in all circumstances
• Consider shifting the burden of proof to establish safe harbour defences to insolvent trading
While individual FICA members have provided their own detailed submissions, and these highlight several specific issues relevant to their membership, the purpose of this submission is to outline the key areas of common agreement between FICA members and suggested next steps.
Topics covered include:
– Introduction of civil penalties
– Flexible remedies – Rebuttable presumption
– Flexible remedies – Injunctions
– Existing remedies available under the UCT regime
– Definition of Small Business and Monetary Value of Contracts
– Transitional provisions
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