It’s been more down than up for the ASX in the last few years. That’s not the index, but the market operator, which seriously bungled the roll-out of a crucial upgrade of clearance and settlement systems, resulting in more than casual regulatory scrutiny.
But ASX Limited is still attractive to someone, it seems. Street Talk can reveal a consortium of superannuation funds, including industry giants and major shareholders AustralianSuper and UniSuper, seriously considered lobbing a takeover bid only late last year. , an otherwise unremarkable piece of legislation introduced into the federal parliament this year that happens to propose the lifting of this cap.
Those sympathetic to the Coalition’s position – and critics of industry super funds – note that the legislation had no suggestion of raising the cap on ASX’s ownership limits until much later. No explanation, so far, of why it was eventually included, although no doubt Coalition MPs would blame Labor’s close links with industry super funds.There’s another coincidence.