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faq: applications from outside Victoria

 

Can I apply for membership if I live outside Victoria?
If you live outside Victoria, we are able to accept your application if any of the following apply to you:

Acceptance of applications from other non-Victorian residents is possible under certain circumstances, however due to factors beyond our control, acceptance may take several months and may ultimately be unsuccessful. For more background see Why are non-Victorian applications treated differently? If, for any reason, we are unable to accept an application, the entire funds of that application will be returned.

Please contact our Executive Officer for more information.

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Why are non-Victorian applications treated differently?
Hepburn Wind is a co-operative under Victorian legislation. Not only does this structure meet our community objectives, including ‘one member, one vote’, it also greatly simplifies fund raising within the local area. Outside of Victoria, our fund raising is regulated by the Corporations Act, which places constraints on raising funds outside the co-operative’s home state. As such, the place of our offer is Victoria, and it is made to Victorian residents.

Within weeks of releasing our initial offer we received applications from non-residents of Victoria in excess of the allowable limits in the Act. We applied to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and were granted permission to accept interstate applications received up until the formal close of our first offer.

For some time, the States and Territories have been working on a ‘mutual recognition’ framework that is expected to greatly simplify this process. Whilst we had been expecting implementation of the new framework by the end of 2009, it now appears unlikely to be implemented before the completion of our capital raising period.

We are currently preparing an updated offer to be released in February 2010. Again the place of our offer will be Victoria, and it will be made to Victorian residents.

At the end of the offer period, if we have received a number of interstate applicants that exceeds the limits set out in the Corporations Act, we will again apply to ASIC. ASIC acceptance, it should be noted, is not automatic.

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I am already a member but live outside Victoria. Can I apply for more shares?
Unfortunately, the restrictions relating to investments by non-Victorian residents (outlined in Why are non-Victorian applications treated differently?) applies irrespective of whether the applicant is already a member.

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What is a 'sophisticated investor'?
A ‘sophisticated investor’ is a person who has net assets of $2.5 million or more or has gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least $250,000 a year. These criteria must relate to the same entity to which the offer is made. A qualified accountant must certify that the person/entity satisfies this criteria and this certification must be no more than two years old.

If you intend to apply for shares as a ‘sophisticated investor’, please contact our Executive Officer to arrange documentation to accompany your application.

Note that for the purposes of our Offer, the ‘sophisticated investor’ classification is relevant only to Australian residents not residing in Victoria.

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I live outside Australia. Can I apply for membership?
There are no Australian legal restrictions on Hepburn Wind accepting applications from outside Australia. However you should make your own enquiries as to whether there are local restrictions or tax implications for investments.

Hepburn Wind will deduct any bank fees we incur from processing your application, capped to AUD $10 per application. We will cover the bank fees at our end required to pay dividends to your home bank account as and when these are made. You will be responsible for all fee, charges and taxes at your end.

Last updated: 12 January 2010