Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Amendment (Relaxing Ownership Restrictions) Bill 2018

In the 2017-18 Budget, the Government announced that the it would look to relax the legislative 15 per cent ownership cap so as to reduce barriers for innovative new entrants into the banking sector.

This consultation seeks stakeholder views on the exposure draft of the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Amendment (Relaxing Ownership Restrictions) Bill 2018 and related explanatory statement. This Bill will:

• increase the ownership cap from 15 per cent to 20 per cent; and
• introduce a streamlined approval path for new and recent entrants, where assets are under a specified amount, to allow them the time they need to test and grow their business before they need to consider diversifying ownership.