After almost 10 years of negotiations between the nations on 17 November 2014 Prime Minister Abbott and President Xi announced the conclusion of negotiations on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement ChAFTA Once implemented the ChAFTA is expected to significantly reduce import barriers for ...

With financial services providers already taking advantage of the possibilities created by a new tide of internet meta data we need regulators and a regulatory regime that see the opportunities implicit in the change and not only the risks ...

In an important ruling the High Court has decided that a purchaser of leased premises will make a supply of the leased premises when after completion the purchaser observes its express obligations under the lease The decision provides much-needed certainty for vendors and purchasers of leased ...

There is lots of noise about the duties of financial advisers and lawyers including us love to debate whether FoFA has left any room for fiduciary obligations ...

There is a contest underway between two heavyweights In one corner of the ring we have Big Data In the other corner we have the definition of personal advice in section 766B3 of the Corporations Act ...

From 1 January 2015 a new common risk management prudential standard will apply to banks general insurers and life companies and in many cases to other companies in the corporate groups in which those institutions sit Michael Mathieson looks at the three lines of defence model that APRA proposes to ...

In recent times APRA has been active in prescribing duties for directors of the institutions it regulates In light of what has happened it is worth asking should the question of directors duties be excluded from APRAs prudential standard-making powers ...

Treasury has released a discussion paper on the proposal to introduce a non-final withholding tax on the disposal of taxable Australian property by foreign residents Partner Katrina Parkyn looks at some of the key areas of discussion ...

A one stop shop for Commonwealth and state environmental approvals in Queensland and New South Wales is a step closer with the release of draft Approval Bilateral Agreements If implemented as planned Queensland and New South Wales will each become responsible for assessing and approving projects for ...

A key risk faced by self-funded retirees is the possibility that their superannuation savings will not last as long as they will While lifetime pensions and annuities issued by life companies can assist in addressing this risk there has traditionally been a relatively low uptake of these products by ...