International Law

ASIC has released a Consultation Paper (pdf) proposing to facilitate disclosure of financial services information through email and the internet as part of the Retail Investor Taskforce work to improve access to such information.

ASIC is proposing relief to enable providers to give their financial services disclosures by:

• notifying clients via email that the relevant information is available from a website and with instructions on where the information can be found; or
• sending clients an email with a hyperlink to the relevant information.

ASIC is also proposing relief to enable trustees of superannuation entities to use a website as the default method of delivering annual superannuation information (other than personal disclosures, such as periodic statements of a member's holding). The proposed relief will mean that annual superannuation information is treated in much the same way as company annual reports.

Comments are invited by 28 May 2008