40Acquisitions of shares

40 Acquisitions of shares

If:

(a) a person, or 2 or more persons under an arrangement, acquire shares in a company; and

(b) the acquisition has the result, in relation to a FLIC, that:

(i) an unacceptable foreign ownership situation comes into existence in relation to the FLIC; or

(ii) if an unacceptable foreign ownership situation already exists in relation to the FLIC because there is a group of foreign persons who hold, in total, a particular type of stake in the FLIC of 33% or more—there is an increase in the total of any type of stake held by any group of foreign persons in the FLIC; or

(iii) an unacceptable individual ownership situation comes into existence in relation to the FLIC; or

(iv) if an unacceptable individual ownership situation already exists in relation to the FLIC because there is one or more individuals who hold a particular type of stake in the FLIC of more than 33%—there is an increase in the type of stake held by any of those persons in the FLIC; and

(c) the person or persons mentioned in paragraph (a) were reckless as to whether the acquisition would have that result;

the person or persons mentioned in paragraph (a) are guilty of an offence.

Penalty: 400 penalty units.

Note: Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.