The Australian Government has tabled the Crimes Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2019 (the 2019 Bill) in the Senate, and the Attorney-General's Department has released Draft Guidance on the steps a body corporate can take to prevent an associate from bribing foreign public officials for public consultation (the Draft Guidance). Like the 2017 version of the Bill that lapsed earlier this year (the 2017 Bill), if passed, the 2019 Bill will strengthen Australia's foreign bribery laws, including by introducing a new corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by an associate, and will introduce a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) scheme for resolving serious corporate criminal matters. Partner Rachel Nicolson, Senior Associate Andrew Wilcock and Associate Lewis Winter report on the key differences between the 2017 and 2019 Bills, and the content of the Draft Guidance. ...

Time to act on Australia's social infrastructure deficit: four steps to address the increasing shortfall ...

In her summary my colleague, Michelle Levy, said her initial reaction was that the recommendations in the Final Report were modest but, on a second reading, some would set a cat among the pigeons. ...

Throughout the Royal Commission, Commissioner Hayne grappled with the difficulties of striking an appropriate balance between ensuring that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have access to credit, and imposing standards on the provision of that credit to protect SME borrowers and third-party guara ...

During the agricultural round of hearings, and in his Interim Report, the Commissioner asked if there should be special rules for farmers to address the particular challenges of the sector, and if so, who should bear the added cost? ...

In touch Competition law update is a regular publication by the Allens Competition Law group to keep you informed of the latest news and developments in this area ...