23 Marcus Clarke Street
Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131
Canberra ACT 2601
Our ref:
FOI100190
Contact officer:
FOI team
tel: (02) 6243 1111
Contact phone:
02 6243 1244
fax: (02) 6243 1199
04 July 2024
www.accc.gov.au
Compliance Associate (Right to Know)
Sent via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Compliance Associate
Notice of intention to refuse access because a practical refusal reason exists –
insufficient information provided – ACCC cannot identify requested documents
I refer to your email of 22 June 2024 in which you request access to documents
relating to:
I am requesting documents related CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, GFT
Global Markets UK Limited, IG Markets Limited, Australian CFD Forum Limited
and parties otherwise listed in Schedule 1 made December 2013.
In the submission a compliance plan was being developed by Ms.
Jan Redfern PSM, former senior executive of ASIC and currently part time Senior
Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Guardianship Tribunal
and independent governance and regulatory compliance consultant, to assist
them in relation to a proposal to establish a CFD industry body and best practice
standards for the Australian CFD industry.
Please provide documents about industry best practices and compliance plans
created by Jan Redfern.
Additionally documents about Trio Capital and fraud and the need John
Hempton to Treasury to use only arrangements like Citco as custodian of
client assets and strongly critical of the typical brokerage and clearing
arrangements used by typical Hedge Funds.
The ACCC is considering refusing your request insofar as it relates to the second
part of your request (in bold above), as currently framed, under s.24 of the
Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) because a practical refusal reason exists.
The practical refusal reason is that the request does not provide enough information
to enable the ACCC to identify the documents you are seeking.
Before making a final decision you have an opportunity to revise your request to
provide sufficient information to enable us to identify the documents you are seeking.
This is called the ‘request consultation process’. Before
18 July 2024, you must
either:
revise your request,
tell us that you do not wish to revise your request, or
withdraw your request.
If you do not respond in one of these ways in that timeframe your request is taken to
be withdrawn.
What should you do
I am the ACCC officer to contact to try to remove the ground for refusal. Please read
the attached tips for success (Attachment A) and then email me via xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
to make a time to discuss your request. I am happy to help you to revise your request
to remove the practical refusal ground.
To help us develop a better understanding of the documents you are seeking, before
contacting us please consider;
whether the ACCC is the correct agency to direct the second part of your FOI
request to.
reframing the scope of the second part of your request or clarifying what
documents you are seeking. It is unclear what you mean by “….the need
John Hempton to Treasury to use only arrangements like Citco….”.
I strongly encourage you to contact me before submitting a revised request. Once
you submit a revised request, the request consultation process ends and we will
make a decision regarding whether the practical refusal ground still exists based on
the terms of your revised request. Even if you modify your request, the practical
refusal reason may still exist or we may need further time to process your revised
request. This will depend upon the terms of your final request.
If you need more time to respond, please contact me within the 14 day period to
discuss your need for an extension of time.
During this period of consultation, the statutory timeframe for the processing of your
request is on hold.
I have also attached an extract from the FOI Act for your information (Attachment B).
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Fenech
FOI Manager
ACCC Legal Group
Sent by email 4/07/2024
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Attachment A
Tips for success
It would assist us if you were able to clearly identify the specific documents you are
after, or clarify what information you are seeking.
Please consider if we are the agency that has the document you seek.
The ACCC does not hold documents such as medical records, phone bills or
police records. To access this material, contact your medical practitioner or
the relevant hospital, telecommunication provider or local police force.
The
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) only applies to
Commonwealth Government agencies. Each agency processes their own FOI
requests and has their own FOI section. You will need to contact the relevant
agency directly to enquire how you can make an FOI request to them.
Each State has separate freedom of information law. If you are seeking
information from a State Government, you will need to contact the relevant
State agency directly to enquire how you can make an FOI request to them.
Framing the scope of your request using the below suggestions will assist us to
identify the document/s you are seeking, and may also assist in removing any
practical refusal reasons.
Limit your request to one or two dot points.
Choose a specific category of documents (i.e. final documents, file notes,
email correspondence or reports). Requesting ‘all documents’ in relation to a
matter or issue may lead to a practical refusal reason
Choose a specific date or date range (i.e. a final document dated 5 June 2019
or final documents created between 1 June 2019 and 30 June 2019). Too
broad a date range may result in a practical refusal reason
Limit your request to documents about a specific issue in relation to a specific
matter (i.e. correspondence between the ACCC and (name of company or
person) addressing why they consider the conduct was not unlawful).
Requesting ‘all documents’ in relation to a matter or issue may lead to a
practical refusal
Be clear about what you
don’t want (i.e. hardcopy documents, publicly
available material, duplicates, copies of your own correspondence).
Exclude third party identifying material if you can, to minimise our need to
consult such parties on your request.
Example FOI request:
‘I request, under the FOI Act, final reports and file notes relating to x matter, in the
period 1 July 2019 to 30 July 2019.
I am not seeking copies of internal correspondence, draft documents or publicly
available documents.’
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Attachment B
Extracts of the Freedom of Information Act
15 Requests for access
Requirements for request
(2) The request must:
(a) be in writing; and
(aa) state that the request is an application for the purposes of this Act; and
(b) provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably
necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister,
to identify it; and
(c) give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for
example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by
electronic communication).
24AB What is a request consultation process?
(1) This section sets out what is a
request consultation process for the
purposes of section 24.
Requirement to notify
(2) The agency or Minister must give the applicant a written notice stating the
following:
(a) an intention to refuse access to a document in accordance with a request;
(b) the practical refusal reason;
(c) the name of an officer of the agency or member of staff of the Minister (the
contact person ) with whom the applicant may consult during a period;
(d) details of how the applicant may contact the contact person;
(e) that the period (the
consultation period ) during which the applicant may
consult with the contact person is 14 days after the day the applicant is given
the notice.
Assistance to revise request
(3) If the applicant contacts the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice, the agency or Minister must take reasonable steps to
assist the applicant to revise the request so that the practical refusal reason no
longer exists.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3),
reasonable steps includes the following:
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(a) giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity to consult with the contact
person;
(b) providing the applicant with any information that would assist the applicant
to revise the request.
Extension of consultation period
(5) The contact person may, with the applicant's agreement, extend the
consultation period by written notice to the applicant.
Outcome of request consultation process
(6) The applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do one of the
following, by written notice to the agency or Minister:
(a) withdraw the request;
(b) make a revised request;
(c) indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
(7) The request is taken to have been withdrawn under subsection (6) at the end
of the consultation period if:
(a) the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation
period in accordance with the notice; or
(b) the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6)
before the end of the consultation period.
Consultation period to be disregarded in calculating processing period
(8) The period starting on the day an applicant is given a notice under
subsection (2) and ending on the day the applicant does one of the things
mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) or (c) is to be disregarded in working out the 30
day period mentioned in paragraph 15(5)(b).
Note: Paragraph 15(5)(b) requires that an agency or Minister take all reasonable
steps to notify an applicant of a decision on the applicant's request within 30 days
after the request is made.
No more than one request consultation process required
(9) To avoid doubt, this section only obliges the agency or Minister to undertake a
request consultation process once for any particular request.
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