Senator The Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, announced yesterday morning the release of the draft Corporations Legislation Amendment (Financial Services Modernisation) Bill 2009 and related material. The three main areas which the draft legislation seeks to address is margin lending, trustee companies and debentures.

We have been following the proposed changes being made to the Corporations Act 2001 in relation to margin lending for some time and have been providing Legal Updates on this topic for the past twelve months.

The Government is now seeking submissions on the exposure draft legislation by close of business Friday 29 May 2009.

We intend to issue a more detailed Legal Update shortly but in the meantime, should you need any assistance in preparing a submission, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can obtain a copy of the draft legislation at The Treasury website: www.treasury.gov.au.

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