Australian Securities And Investments Commission Signs MOU With Newcastle Stock Exchange

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Stock Exchange of Newcastle Limited (NSX) to clarify the regulatory roles and responsibilities of the two organisations in relation to the supervision of NSX's market.

The MOU creates a framework in which NSX will operate as a self-regulatory organization under the supervision of ASIC, and ASIC will oversee NSX's management of the regulatory risks relating to its market.

The MOU covers:

• the operational relationship between ASIC and NSX for the provision of company announcements;
• referral of matters from NSX to ASIC arising from NSX's surveillance of its market and its supervision of listed entities and participating organizations;
• NSX's arrangements for dealing with breaches of its operating rules and unlawful or undesirable conduct on its market; and
• NSX's performance of its reporting and ongoing obligations as a stock exchange under the Corporations Law.

ASIC's approach to the supervision of NSX aims to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall supervision process. The MOU provides ASIC with flexibility in the manner in which the NSX is supervised, depending on what ASIC considers appropriate to discharge its regulatory responsibilities, and to assist NSX to manage its regulatory risks.

A copy of the MOU is available at ASIC's website at http://wwwasic.gov.au/ or the Newcastle Stock Exchange website http://www.newsx.com.au