On 4 August 2009 the Treasurer, Mr Wayne Swan, announced reforms
to the Australia's foreign investment screening framework.
Currently the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers legislation
contains six thresholds which prescribe when an overseas business
investing in Australia must be reviewed by the Foreign Investment
Review Board ("FIRB") or when it must notify the Federal
Government.
The most common threshold is an acquisition of 15 per cent or
more in an Australian business valued at $100 million or more,
while offshore takeovers are subject to a threshold of $200
million.
There are also three investment thresholds for United States
investors only. The first threshold is indexed at $110 million for
sensitive sector acquisitions, the second is indexed at $219
million for offshore takeovers and the third is indexed at $953
million for investment in non-sensitive sectors.