Recent rule amendments

On 28 February 2020 ASX released an update to Guidance Note 8 Continuous Disclosure: Listing Rules 3.1 – 3.1B. The amendments reflect:

• additional guidance in section 4.15 (guidelines on the contents of announcements under Listing Rule 3.1) on the requirement to name counterparties in announcements about market sensitive contracts;
  
• an update to section 7.3 (market sensitive earnings surprises) on the materiality thresholds an entity should use to determine whether it should update any earnings guidance it may have given to the market;
  
• additional guidance in section 8.8 (ASX’s enforcement powers) on the measures ASX may impose to address a breach of listing rule 3.1 or 3.1B;
  
• the recent decisions of the Federal Court in:
  
  • TPT Patrol Pty Ltd as trustee for Amies Superannuation Fund v Myer Holdings Limited
    
  • ASIC v Vocation Limited
    
  • Masters v Lombe (liquidator): In the Matter of Babcock & Brown Limited (In Liq);
    
• the 2016 Full Federal Court decision in Grant-Taylor v Babcock & Brown Limited;
  
• the listing rule changes that came into effect on 1 December 2019;
  
• the fourth edition of the Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations that came into effect on 1 January 2020; and
  
• some other minor drafting changes.
  

A mark-up identifying the changes is available here.

Updates to:

• GN9 - to reflect the coming into effect of the fourth edition of the Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations 
• GN35 - to correct the summary of listing rule 3.13.2 in section 13 of the Guidance Note 

Listing fees: Guidance Note 15A:

• schedules of Annual Listing Fees and Fees for Quotation of Additional Securities have been updated, effective 1 July 2019
• definition of “Simple Corporate Bond” in footnote 5 has been updated to refer directly to the Corporations Act rather than the amending Act.