Rudd Strikes Deal On Market Access In Us
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday March 31, 2008
AUSTRALIAN stockbrokers will gain better access to United States sharemarkets at the end of this year following a deal struck between the nations' corporate regulators to streamline regulations for companies operating in each other's countries.
Concluding negotiations started in 2005 by the then treasurer Peter Costello, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the US's Securities and Exchange Commission have agreed to recognise each other's rules.An Australian company operating in the US, for example, would be bound by Australian regulations and largely spared the more intrusive US rules.Similarly, US companies operating here would largely be exempt from Australian regulation and be encouraged to invest in Australian securities.This reduces the red tape and other impediments that face stockbrokers wishing to operate on the other side of the Pacific. The agreement followed talks in Washington on Saturday between the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is the only such deal the commission has struck with another country, and a source said it was a "big vote of confidence" in Australia's regulatory regime. "It's a huge moneymaker for our finance guys."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
