Legal Aspects of International Trade and Enterprise

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Legal Aspects of
International Trade
and Enterprise

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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Corporation...................................................................2
Legislative Regulatory Framework..............................................................2
Impact of Treaties, Conventions and Agreements on Products and Services
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References..................................................................................................8

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Introduction to the Corporation
The Bank of America Corporation (hereinafter referred to as BofA or the
company) is an America-based multinational company that operates in
investment banking and financial services industry (Bank of America,
2019). The headquarters of the company is situated in Charlotte, North
Caroline, US and the company has hired over 169,708 employees (half of
which include women) to manage its operations worldwide (Bank of
America, 2018).
In Australia, the company has established its operations as the Bank of
America Merrill Lynch which is now referred as (BofA Securities). It
operates in the investment banking industry and provides services of
lending, mergers and acquisitions, trading, brokerage, research, liquidity
and payment management, equity and debt capital market and risk
management. In 2017, the company had more than 200 employees that
handle its operations and provide services to its customers (Corporate,
2017).
Legislative Regulatory Framework
BofA has to comply with various regulatory guidelines which are
implemented by the Australian government that applies on BofA
Securities. Compliance with these policies is important for the company to
make sure that it avoids legal penalties and effective discharge its legal
obligations. These policies are implemented by the government to create
a legislative framework in which the interest of customers, employees and
other stakeholders is protected (Amiram, Bauer and Frank, 2018). Since
BofA Securities operates in the financial services industry, the company
has to maintain a high standard of care and diligence while providing its
services to make sure that it did not harm the interest of its clients by
providing them false or misleading information.
Taxation Policy

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One of a key regulatory policy which applies to its operation is the
taxation policy of Australia. The profits generated by BofA Securities are
taxed in Australia as per the guidelines issued by the government which
are mandatory to be followed by the company (Amiram, Bauer and Frank,
2018). Violation of these policies leads to negative consequences.
Furthermore, BofA cannot send the money back to its headquarters in the
US before paying tax on the income generated through BofA Securities.
The current rate of corporate tax is 30 per cent in Australia that applies to
the operations of BofA (Austrade, 2019). The company has to pay tax on
the income that it generates from its clients in Australia while providing
them financial services. Along with this tax, the company is also required
to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST). This tax is imposed on
companies that offer goods or services in Australia, and since BofA
Securities offers financial services to its clients, it has to pay GST. The
current rate of GST is fixed by the government at 10 per cent (Austrade,
2019). However, the corporate tax rate and GST rate are not fixed, and
they can be changed by the government which resulted in increasing or
decreasing the tax liability of the company.
Competition and Consumer Act
Another key part of the legislative regulatory framework of Australia is the
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). This is an important legislation
that imposes obligations on companies in relation to the protection of
competition in the country and consumer rights. The provisions given
under this act are categorised into two types (Keeves, 2017). The
provisions given under schedule one are focused on competition laws and
the promotion of competition in Australia. On the other hand, the second
schedule focuses on consumer rights and protection of those rights from
unfair trading practices. These provisions apply to the operations of BofA
Securities since the company has to make sure that it did not eliminate
competition or adversely affect the rights of its customers (Keeves, 2017).
As per these provisions, the company has to make sure that it did not
engage with other corporations or make unfair agreements with them to