The release of the discussion paper by Treasury follows the government’s announcement, through its industry innovation and competitiveness agenda, which said it would consult on a regulatory framework for equity crowdfunding.
In calling for consultation the government has made three suggestions which it says Australia could adopt as a regulatory framework, including a model put forward by the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC).
“The model recommended by CAMAC draws on an extensive review of approaches implemented or proposed to be implemented by foreign jurisdictions,” the discussion paper said.
“[Another idea is the] model implemented by New Zealand takes a different approach to that of CAMAC in a number of key areas, including public company compliance costs, companies eligible to use CSEF, investor limits and certain intermediary requirements,” it said.
“[Or] the status quo option [which] is included as a baseline against [to] compare regulatory options, consistent with the government’s requirements for regulation impact statements,” the discussion paper said.
However the government stated in the discussion paper that it has not made a final decision on its preferred CSEF regulatory framework.
“Feedback from the consultation process will assist the government in developing its preferred approach to CSEF,” it said.
In a joint statement, Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann and Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson said implementing equity crowdfunding in Australia will assist entrepreneurs in the development of their businesses.
“We are keen to ensure that any crowdsourced equity funding model appropriately balances supporting investment, reducing compliance costs (including for small business) and maintaining an appropriate level of investor protection,” a statement from Mr Cormann and Mr Billson said.
Submissions for public consultations to the treasury will close on 6 February 2015.
