HONG KONG/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia is pulling staff out of federal departments to help its foreign investment regulator manage a deluge of work since announcing tougher policing of cross-border transactions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury department told Reuters.
The Australian Treasury department and Australian Taxation Office (ATO) supply the staff of the country’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), which makes recommendations about whether to approve overseas buyouts of Australian interests.
Since the government ordered a shutdown of most public activity to contain the coronavirus in March, a host of Australian businesses have hired administrators or seen their shares tumble. That has led to more offers by foreign investors for troubled Australian assets.
The government has responded by removing most thresholds required to need FIRB approval, increasing the number of approvals required. Exactly how many more are needed is not clear.
“Treasury and the ATO have each redeployed internal staff or brought in additional staff to manage the workload associated with the substantial increase in applications since the zero dollar threshold was announced on 29 March 2020,” a Treasury spokeswoman said in an email on Tuesday.
The spokeswoman did not say how many additional staff were being moved into FIRB. The oversight body was run by 55 Treasury staff and 67 ATO staff in 2019, according to its last annual report.
The changes to the threshold mean the waiting time for applications to be approved has slowed from an average of six weeks to at least eight to ten weeks, according to one corporate lawyer in Sydney.
The lawyer could not be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.
Under FIRB’s new oversight regime, all foreign investors face greater scrutiny when bidding for sensitive assets, regardless of the size of the deal and whether the buyer is private or state-owned.
The Treasurer also gets the power to change or impose conditions on a deal or force a sale after the deal has been approved by FIRB.
The federal government said when it unveiled the changes that it would spend an additional A$50 million to enforce the rules, which are expected to take effect in 2021.
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong and Byron Kaye in Sydney; editing by Larry King)
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
