Retail trading in government securities moved a step closer yesterday, following the passage of enabling legislation in the Senate.The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, said in a statement that the new law, Commonwealth Government Securities Legislation Amendment (Retail Trading) Bill,  provided a legal framework for allowing retail investors to participate in the government securities market and applied the investor protection regime in the Corporations Act to retail trading in the securities.The Treasurer said he had instructed the Australian Office of Financial Management to work with commercial partners, including financial market operators, to ensure that trading in "depository interests" accessible to retail investors could start in the near future. The Treasurer said he hoped the reform would encourage similar developments in the corporate bond market.The Australian Securities Exchange issued a statement saying it expected trading in government securities to start in the first half of 2013.The ASX statement said: "Investors will access the market in the same way as they do for shares and other ASX-quoted securities, via their ASX participant, online broker or financial planner."All benchmark bonds issued by the Australian Government, including treasury bonds and treasury indexed bonds, will be available for trading.