Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia's National Security) Act 2020 (114 of 2020)

Schedule 1   Main amendments

Part 1   Amendment of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975

Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975

154   At the end of section 85 (after the penalty)

Add:

(2) A person commits an offence if:

(a) the person is a foreign person; and

(b) the Treasurer gives the person a notice under subsection 66A(4) in relation to an action; and

(c) at the time the Treasurer gave the notice to the person, the action had not been taken; and

(d) the person takes the action (other than because of the operation of section 18A (increasing percentage of interests without acquiring additional interests in securities)); and

(e) the action is taken before the day mentioned in section 82; and

(f) if a change in control is required for the action to be a significant action - there is a change in control as a result of the action.

Note 1: If a person takes an action by entering an agreement, the action is not taken until the agreement is binding on the person (see subsections 15(4) and (5)).

Note 2: A notice might be given under section 81 or because a foreign person chooses to give a notice despite not being required to do so.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years, or 15,000 penalty units, or both.