Clifford Chance
The New Personal Property Securities Act and its impact on mining and energy companies in Australia from October 2011
1 July 2011
In Australia there are over 100 registers of security interests kept under more than 100 different Federal, State and Territory laws. These registers and laws are being administered by over 40 Australian Government agencies.
It is proposed that, from October 2011, a single national regime which governs security interests over personal property will replace approximately 70 existing Commonwealth, State and Territory laws which are currently being administered by more than 30 Australian Government agencies.
The new regime is contained in the Personal Property Securities Act, a Federal law.
A "Personal Property Securities Register" will be created where all forms of security interests over all personal property must be registered in order to provide the holder with the best protection and rights. Without being registered, some security interests may lose their priority over other claims or be lost altogether. The Personal Property Securities Register is designed to give certainty to people taking security over personal property and to buyers and sellers of such property.
This Client Briefing discusses the key issues.
