Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
National security action, a notifiable action or a significant action.Foreign persons should also be aware that separate legislation includes other requirements and/or imposes limits on foreign investment in the following instances: foreign ownership in the banking sector must be consistent with the Banking Act 1959 (Cth), the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 (Cth) and banking policy; aggregate foreign ownership in an Australian international airline (including Qantas) is limited to 49 per cent (see Air Navigation Act 1920 (Cth) and Qantas Sale Act 1992 (Cth)); the Airports Act 1996 (Cth) limits foreign ownership of some airports to 49 per cent, with a 5 per cent airline ownership limit and cross-ownership limits between Sydney airport (together with Sydney West) and either Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth airports; the Shipping Registration Act 1981 (Cth) requires a ship to be majority Australian-owned if it is to be registered in Australia, unless it is designated as chartered by an Australian operator; and aggregate foreign ownership of Telstra is limited to 35 per cent and individual foreign investors are only allowed to own up to 5%.Separate to the FIRB notification requirements, foreign persons are also required to register acquisitions of interests in agricultural land and water entitlements, irrespective of whether they had to notify FIRB.Foreign persons should lodge applications in advance of any notifiable transaction, or make contracts conditional on foreign investment approval. Such a transaction should not proceed until the Treasurer advises of the outcome of its review.The government encourages potential investors to engage with FIRB prior to lodging applications on significant proposals to allow timely consideration of the proposal.Under the FATA, foreign persons are required to notify the Treasurer in relation to each individual investment (unless otherwise exempt). The government has introduced exemption certificates in relation to multiple acquisitions as a way of reducing the regulatory burden of the FATA.The grant of such exemption certificates will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure they are not contrary to the national interest. However, it is unlikely that an exemption certificate will be granted to first time investors to Australia.The exemption certificate will generally specify the maximum value of interests that can be acquired and the period during which acquisitions can be made. Typically, exemption certificates granted will be subject to periodic reporting conditions (eg quarterly compliance reporting and report on acquisitions made under the exemption certificate) and will often only obviate the requirement to notify
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