On 8 October 2025, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Bill 2025 reached the third reading stage in the House of Representatives.

The Bill is an omnibus Bill which amends the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) in addition to various taxation, charities, financial regulation oversight, competition and foreign investment laws in the Treasury portfolio.

Schedule 1 to the Bill amends Chapters 6 and 6C of the Corporations Act to enhance the substantial holding and tracing notice regimes, which, among other things, govern the disclosure of beneficial ownership for listed entities, by requiring holders to disclose certain “derivative-based interests” to the market. The changes are consistent with the Government’s 2022 election commitment to introduce reforms in relation to beneficial ownership.

Schedule 1 to the Bill includes amendments intended to:

• Bring interests arising from equity derivatives into the Chapter 6C disclosure regime – streamlining disclosure requirements and ensuring the same level of regulatory oversight, and penalties for misconduct, apply with respect to all interests required to be disclosed to the market.
• Require foreign-registered entities listed on Australia’s financial markets and their shareholders to disclose interests in securities to the same standard as Australian-registered listed entities and their shareholders.
• Clarify when the existing and new disclosure requirements crystallise and introduce greater flexibility to simplify some of the disclosures required.
• Improve access to, and usability of, existing registers of information about relevant interests in listed entities collected via tracing notices.
• Confer on ASIC appropriate powers to incentivise compliance with the streamlined disclosure regime and protect market participants, including increased penalties for existing offences in Chapter 6C.