Chapter 1Introduction
1.1This statutory inquiry into the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Takeover Panel, and the corporations legislationis established by section 243 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) which provides the following terms of references for the duties of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (the committee):
(a)to inquire into, and report to both Houses on:
(i)activities of ASIC or the 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.
1.2These duties serve as the terms of reference for this inquiry.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.3This report is the second for this statutory inquiry in the 47th Parliament and considers evidence received on competition in financial market clearing and settlement services and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) Replacement Project.
1.4The committee advertised the inquiry on its website and wrote to relevant and interested parties inviting written submissions by 4 May 2023. The committee received 13 submissions, 12 of which addressed competition in clearing and settlement and the ASX CHESS Replacement Project, as well as supplementary submissions, responses to submissions, additional information, answers to questions on notice and tabled documents, which are listed in Appendix 1. The committee held the following public hearings:
5 December 2022 in Sydney;
23 February 2023 in Sydney;
8 June 2023 in Canberra;
27 June 2023 in Canberra;
20 October 2023 in Canberra; and
3 November 2023 in Melbourne.
1.5The names of witnesses who appeared at the public hearings can be found in Appendix 2.
Structure of the report
1.6This report is divided into the following chapters:
Chapter 1 provides administrative information about the inquiry.
Chapter 2 discusses existing reforms for financial market infrastructure, including clearing and settlement.
Chapter 3 covers industry proposed further reforms for competition in clearing and settlement.
Chapter 4 summarises other industry proposed reforms for ASX technology platform services.
Chapter 5 provides an overview of the CHESS Replacement Project.
Chapter 6 discusses the role of the regulators for the CHESS Replacement Project.
Chapter 7 examines the governance and stakeholder engagement arrangements for the ASX and the CHESS Replacement Project.
Acknowledgements
1.7The committee thanks all individuals and organisations who assisted with the inquiry, especially those who made submissions and attended public hearings.
Notes on references
1.8References to the committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard, therefore page numbers may vary relative to the official Hansard.