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ARTICLE · 20 FEBRUARY 2011

New laws governing public access to share registers aimed at unsolicited share offers

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The government recently brought into force new laws regulating access to share registers. Although aimed primarily at unsolicited share offers, the Corporations Amendment (No 1) Act 2010 restricts access to registers for a far wider range of users.

AustraliaFinance and Banking
Alistair Jaque
Alistair Jaque
Swaab Author
Swaab Author
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In brief - Restricted access aimed at unsolicited share offers

The government recently brought into force new laws regulating access to share registers. Although aimed primarily at unsolicited share offers, the Corporations Amendment (No 1) Act 2010 restricts access to registers for a far wider range of users.

How the Act works  

Previously any person could access information from a share register, provided they paid the necessary fee. The only legal limitation was that they could not subsequently use the information for a purpose unrelated to the shareholding.

Under the new Act, a person who applies to access the register will have to disclose to the company the purpose for which they intend to use the information. If that is a "prescribed purpose", the company will have the right to refuse access.

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