Who does it affect?
If you are a
• Lender
• ADI
• Equipment Lessor
• Manufacturer
• Wholesaler
• Distributor
• Franchisor
• Securitiser
• Retailer
• Consignor
• Buyer of accounts receivable
• Inventory financier
• Farmer
• Builder
• Insurer
• Secured party
• A trustee
• Pawnbroker
and you
• take or give fixed and floating charges
• give long term and finance leases
• take chattel mortgages
• enter retention of title arrangements
• make commercial consignments
• factor debts
• make conditional sales
• accept pledges
• provide hire purchase
• provide credit on sales
• take mortgage-backed securities
• enter repurchase agreements
• take guarantees
then your business will be affected.

Now is the time to start preparing for the changes to your credit policies and systems.

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Judge Sulan decided that it was not unlawful for the meeting to be recorded but then decided that it was within the power of the chair and the meeting itself to decide whether a recording was permissible:

“Although the chairman’s role is facilitative, it is clear that the duty and function of the chairman is to preserve order and to ensure that the proceedings are conducted in an orderly and proper manner. I consider that the chairman’s decision to prevent the tape-recording of a meeting is procedural in nature. It does not deal with matters of substance discussed at the meeting. For example, if a chairman were to prevent a member at the meeting from raising substantive issues about a relevant topic, then that would be more than a mere matter of procedure. There was no attempt in this case by the chairman to limit the discussion on any topic relevant to the joint venture. I consider that a ruling made bona fide to prevent a meeting from being tape recorded is within the scope of the chairman’s powers. ..

The chairman exercised his powers to adjourn the meeting because Alliance expressed the intention that it was not prepared to abide by the chairman’s ruling and resolution of the Management Committee in relation to preventing the tape-recording of meetings. I conclude that it was a valid exercise of the chairman’s powers to adjourn the meetings in circumstances where he was exercising procedural control over the meetings and where the failure of Alliance to comply with the ruling and resolution prevented the continuation of business at the meetings…

a properly convened meeting has the inherent power to regulate its own affairs in the absence of express provisions to the contrary. Such regulation will include matters which are incidental to the manner in which meetings are conducted, including whether or not the proceedings of a meeting can be tape recorded. Any disagreement between the participants should necessarily be resolved by a vote of those entitled to vote at the meetings.

I find that the committee, in the absence of an express provision in the JVA to the contrary, had the inherent power to make a majority ruling on matters incidental to the manner in which meetings are conducted. This extends to the power to preclude a party from taking an electronic recording of the meeting. ”

Magistrates Court: the $50,000 monetary limit will be increased to $150,000;
District Court: the $250,000 monetary limit will be increased to $750,000;
Supreme Court: the minimum claim requirement of $250,000 and over will be increased to claims of $750,000 and over.

From 1 November 2010 there will be no requirement for parties to transfer existing proceedings from a higher court to a lower court.

However, if a lower Court (such as the Magistrates Court) has no jurisdiction to hear the matter, the Magistrates Court must transfer the proceedings to the District Court.

A new Scale of Costs for the Magistrates Court for proceedings between $50,000 and $150,000 will apply from 1 November 2010.

The current arrangement will provide eligible working parents with 18 weeks of pay at the weekly rate of the National Minimum Wage.

The ALP has announced “two weeks Paid Paternity Leave for fathers of newborn babies.

This will be provided in addition to Federal Labor’s 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave. Parents will still be able to choose to share the 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave between them.

Federal Labor’s new entitlement for two weeks dedicated paternity leave pay will be made available to eligible dads from 1 July 2012.”

The Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave scheme will:

• provide mothers with 26 weeks paid parental leave, at full replacement wage (up to a maximum salary of $150,000 per annum) or the Federal Minimum Wage, whichever is greater;
• include superannuation contributions at the mandatory rate of nine per cent;
• allow two out of the 26 weeks to be dedicated paternity leave to be used simultaneously or separately to the mother’s leave, paid at the father’s replacement wage (up to a maximum of $150,000 per annum) or the Federal Minimum Wage, whichever is greater, plus superannuation.
• use the same work test and eligibility conditions as the recently legislated scheme;
• be funded by a 1.5 percent levy on companies with taxable incomes in excess of $5 million. The levy will apply only to taxable income in excess of $5 million.
• be paid and administered by the Family Assistance Office

If the Coalition forms government, subject to the passage of legislation, the Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave scheme will be introduced on 1 July 2012. Until the Coalition’s scheme is fully operational, Labor’s legislated paid parental leave scheme, due to commence on 1 January 2011, will be maintained.

But there will also be a cost to maintaining registration. Secured parties will need to set up systems to make information available to grantors and correct the register if necessary. Obligations of secured parties include:

• Giving a copy of the verification statement to the grantor (Section 157)
• Dealing with amendment demands (Section 178)
• Providing information to interested parties (section 275).

Langes can help you with preparing for the introduction of the PPS Register.

RG201 discusses ASIC’s views of the exceptions to Section 12DL(1) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) which provides that a person must not send another person a credit card or debit card.

In particular RG201 discusses when a card can be sent to renew or replace, or as a substitute for, the initial card with reference to Westpac v ASIC including when the new card can have expanded functionality.

The Guide also discusses the unsolicited issue of companion cards, the issue of replacement cards for cards that were never used and when it will consider no action letters.

In Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner [2010] FCA 869 the Federal Court declared that an online voting enrolment using a signature generated by a digital pen was in order for entry on the roll of electors. The form otherwise met all statutory requirements.

Although the Australian Electoral Commission had accepted faxed copies of enrolment forms and scanned copies of forms sent by email it had refused to accept a form generated by GetUp’s ozenrol site.

The ozenrol site generated a claim form for enrolment in accordance with the statutory requirements, completed the relevant details, applied the signature generated using the signature tool and then generated a document in PDF format. That PDF document was then emailed to a third party provider UTBox which provides an online fax service. It then faxed the enrolment form to the relevant office of the Commissioner.

The Court declared that the signature satisfied section 10 of the Electronic Transactions Act and should be accepted.

ABC News

It is expected that the Register will commence operation in May 2011.

The proposed fees (exclusive of GST) include:

• Register Financing Statement for an undefined duration: $130
• Register Financing Statement where duration is 7 years or less: $7.40
• Register Financing Statement where duration is more than 7 years but less than 25 years: $37.00
• Search the online register by reference to the grantor’s details, by serial number or by registration number:$3.70

Searches through the contact centre by phone will be charged at the same price as an online search. Searches through the contact centre by mail, email or fax, and requiring a printed search result will attract a higher fee of $29.50.

More information about Personal Property Securities