29Certification

29 Certification

(1) Where a licensee proposes to acquire a prescribed interest in a business entity that is not an eligible business entity in relation to the licensee, the licensee shall apply to the Board for the Board to certify the business entity as an eligible business entity in relation to the licensee. (2) An application under subsection (1) shall be made in the manner and form approved by the Board. (3) On receipt of an application by a licensee under subsection (1), the Board shall, as soon as practicable, but, in any case, where the application relates to a business entity to which all of paragraphs (6)(a) to (e) (inclusive) apply, not later than 10 business days after the day of receipt of the application, serve notice on the licensee: (a) certifying the business entity to which the application relates as an eligible business entity in relation to the licensee; (b) refusing to do so; or (c) requesting the licensee to furnish to the Board such further information as is specified in the notice, being information that the Board considers necessary for the purpose of deciding the application. (4) Where the Board requests a licensee under subsection (3) to furnish further information to the Board, the Board may refuse to consider the application further until the information is furnished. (5) On receipt of information requested by the Board under subsection (3) in relation to an application by a licensee under subsection (1), the Board shall, as soon as practicable, but, in any case, where the application relates to a business entity to which all of paragraphs (6)(a) to (e) (inclusive) apply, not later than 10 business days after the day of receipt of the information, serve notice on the licensee: (a) certifying the business entity to which the application relates as an eligible business entity in relation to the licensee; or (b) refusing to do so. (5A) The Board may: (a) impose conditions when certifying a business entity as an eligible business entity in relation to a licensee or, by notice in writing served on the licensee, at any time while the certification remains in force; and (b) at any time while the certification remains in force, by notice in writing served on the licensee, vary or revoke any of the conditions so imposed, or impose further conditions. (6) Subject to this section, the Board may certify a business entity to which an application by a licensee under subsection (1) relates as an eligible business entity in relation to the licensee if: (a) the business entity is, or proposes to become, engaged primarily in one or more of the following business activities: (i) manufacturing; (ii) prescribed agricultural, forestry or fishing activities; (iii) postal, telegraphic, telephonic or teleprinter communication services or such other communication services as are prescribed; (iv) architectural services; (v) surveying services; (vi) the production or supply of software for computers or for similar equipment; (vii) consultant engineering services; (viii) scientific and technical services; (ix) data processing services; (x) prescribed services relating to education or training; (b) the business entity carries on, or proposes to carry on, its principal business activities, or research and development operations, or both, in Australia; (c) the business entity has, at the date of the application, not more than 100 employees or a net worth of not more than $6,000,000 or such other amount, if any, as is prescribed; (d) the Board is satisfied, on the basis of an assessment furnished to the Board by the licensee and any other relevant information in the possession of the Board, that the average growth in the nominal value of sales of the business entity projected for a year specified in the application commencing not more than 6 months before nor more than 6 months after the date of the application and for each of the two succeeding years is more than 20%; (e) where the business entity is engaged primarily in a business activity or business activities referred to in paragraph (a) at the date of the application—that business activity was, or those business activities were, commenced (whether by the business entity or by any other person) not more than 10 years before that date; and (f) the Board is satisfied that the business entity is a prescribed business entity. (7) The Board may certify as an eligible business entity a business entity in relation to which any or all of paragraphs (6)(a) to (e) (inclusive) do not apply, but the Board shall not certify as an eligible business entity a business entity to which paragraph (6)(f) does not apply. (8) The Board shall not certify a business entity as an eligible business entity in relation to a licensee if any person who was an officer of the licensee on the date of the application under subsection (1) for certification was also, at any time during the 12 months ending on that date, an officer of the business entity. (8A) Subsection (8) does not apply in relation to a person who has been an officer of the business entity if the Board is satisfied that there is no actual conflict of interest as a result of the person having been such an officer. (9) Subject to subsections (9A) and (9B), the certification of a business entity as an eligible business entity in relation to a licensee continues in force for such period as is specified in the notice of certification referred to in subsection (3) or (5), as the case may be. (9A) The Board may, on the request of a licensee made before the expiration of the period specified in a notice of certification referred to in subsection (3) or (5), as the case may be, extend the period of certification for such further period as the Board thinks fit. (9B) The Board may extend the period of a certification under subsection (9A) in spite of the fact that the period has expired and, where the Board does so, the period of extension shall be taken to have commenced on the expiration of the first‑mentioned period. (10) A reference in subsection (6) to the net worth of a business entity, as at a particular date, is a reference to the amount by which the total amount of the assets of the business entity exceeds the total amount of its liabilities, not being ownership interests in the business entity, as those amounts were shown in the last balance‑sheet of the business entity that was prepared and audited before that date or, if no balance‑sheet of the business entity was prepared and audited before that date, in the accounting records of the business entity on that date.