In the absence of the Responsible Lending Obligations, lending by Australian banks will be regulated by APRA. This means the new Credit Risk Management Prudential Standard (APS220) will be the central legislative guidance in designing consumer assessment and lending protocols. ...

McDonald's has sued Hungry Jack's in an effort to have the latter's trade mark, Big Jack, cancelled based on various grounds. Regardless of the outcome, the case is a timely reminder to use caution when employing comparative advertising against competitors. ...

A Senate Select Committee established to look into the flag's copyright and licensing arrangements recently rejected an approach that would that would see the Government compulsorily acquire the copyright of an Aboriginal artist. ...

A heightened risk of foreign interference and a shift towards enforcement of the new foreign influence and interference legislation means it is now critical to consider any compliance risks your business may face. ...

The government yesterday introduced into Parliament the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Bill 2020 to implement a large number of the Hayne Royal Commission recommendations. Many provisions have a start date of 1 January 2021, and some don't have a transition period. ...

In light of recent tensions, we assess the importance of Australian trading businesses understanding their sovereign risk and the avenues available under international trade law to mitigate that risk. ...

The climate emergency is occupying mainstream policy focus in many countries and with the lack of viable alternatives to achieve the levels of deep decarbonisation consistent with net zero targets, clean hydrogen has unprecedented political and industry momentum. ...

As part of a broader strategy to strengthen the security of Australia's infrastructure, particularly cybersecurity, the Government has released exposure drafts of its Security Legislation Amendment (C ...

The exposure draft legislation released yesterday for a 'single default account' aims to limit 'the creation of multiple superannuation accounts for employees who do not choose a superannuation fund when they start a new job'. ...

The long-awaited ISDA IBOR Fallbacks Supplement and Protocol will be going live today with the endorsement of ASIC, the RBA and APRA. They implement new benchmark fallbacks for both future and existing derivative contracts, facilitating the efficient transition from LIBOR and other IBORs in anticipation of their discontinuation. If you have a derivatives portfolio, the Protocol allows quick and easy adoption of the new fallbacks through a one-off adherence. That said, it may not be sufficient to cover all scenarios. ...