Federal Treasurer Peter Costello says the Government has made substantial progress over the past nine months in reducing the regulatory burden on business.

Mr Costello, Prime Minister John Howard and state government officials met last week to discuss various issues including the regulatory burden and, more directly, the Taskforce on Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Business (the Banks Taskforce).

The Government set up the taskforce – chaired by Productivity Commission Chairman Gary Banks – in October 2005 to identify practical options for easing compliance.

The Banks Taskforce presented its final report to the Government on January 31 and the government accepted, in full or in part, 158 of the 178 recommendations.

The taskforce made recommendations across a broad range of regulation, and one area was financial and corporate regulation.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Chris Pearce says draft regulations to reduce duplication and simplify product disclosure statements, financial services guides and statements of advice were released for comment during March and April. Drafts of the Simpler Regulatory System Bill and the Simplifying Regulation and Review Bill will be released soon.