The Senate has this week referred a broad-ranging inquiry into foreign bribery to the Senate Economic References Committee The terms of the reference provide for a substantial review of Australias foreign bribery laws and enforcement regime with a particular focus on corporate culture issues and ...

The Supreme Court of Queensland recently considered whether liquidated damages in a standard form construction contract were a penalty In a decision that traversed long-held doctrines on penalties and recent developments in emAndrewsem and Paciocco the court ruled that the obligation to pay ...

The New South Wales Government has released its new Integrated Mining Policy for consultation It clarifies the development application requirements for major mining projects and aims to streamline the assessment process Partner Bill McCredie and Senior Associates Naomi Bergman and Michael Zissis ...

Theres an assumption that everyone is on social media these days even when theyre at work - and they probably are Many startups embrace social media but as an employer you will need to understand and manage the risks that come with the use of social media in the workplace ...

In response to its concerns about the potential risks associated with shared computing services including cloud computing APRA has issued an information paper that sets out prudential considerations and key principles for APRA-regulated entities using such services Partner Michael Morris Senior ...

The Queensland Parliament has passed legislation introducing a stamp duty concession for transfers of interests in exploration authorities under eligible farm-in agreements ...

In October 2014 ASIC released its report into retail life insurance advice practices The findings were pretty grim - with poor advice being more common than good or even adequate advice ASIC said that advisers were motivated by the promise of commissions not the interests of their clients Following ...

Ecstasy cocaine and industrial action at a construction site are unlikely subjects for an article on financial services regulation They are however the things that have led to what could be a significant change to the way in which financial services regulators like ASIC and APRA can resolve civil ...

The new package of legislation overhauling Australias foreign investment laws the first major revision in 40 years commenced on 1 December 2015 While many features of the previous regime have been retained and sometimes re-named there are also a number of significant changes Partners Jeremy Low ...

In response to recent confirmation that Iran has met its international nuclear commitments the Australian Government has lifted all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions against that country ...