The Federal Government has announced that it proposes to strengthen ASICs powers and to increase the severity of penalties civil and criminal that can be imposed on individuals and corporations in line with the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforces recommendations Partner Rachel Nicolson and Senior ...

The cyber insurance market in Australia is rapidly developing however key problems still remain. This guide explains cyber insurance – what it is, what it covers, common limits and exclusions – and how to work out whether cyber insurance is right for you ...

A lot has happened since our most recent update The Royal Commission has published the submissions received from ASIC and industry participants on policy questions posed by Counsel Assisting at the end of the financial advice hearings And the small business lending hearings have been held ...

Today the Full Federal Court clarified the law of penalties as it applies to fees The key development is that in considering whether the amount of a fee is extravagant and exorbitant compared to the potential costs incurred in dealing with a failure to perform an obligation the court held that ...

Class action risk is changing A new wave of entrepreneurialism by plaintiff lawyers and litigation funders has substantially changed class action dynamics in recent times The 25th anniversary of the class action regime is a good opportunity to reflect on whether in the light of those and other ...

Exposure draft life insurance regulations were released yesterday They are a marked departure from the existing conflicted remuneration provisions Now a benefit can only be conflicted remuneration if it could reasonably be expected to influence financial product advice These regulations will create ...

The Taskforce established by Treasury to consider ASICs enforcement powers released its first consultation paper a few weeks ago on breach reporting We examine the most significant of the Taskforces 12 preliminary positions ...

The Bill to amend the conflicted remuneration provisions in the Corporations Act for life insurance has been introduced into Parliament a second time and draft regulations have been released for comment However we struggle to know how to describe them because the changes seem to have conflicting ...

Has talk of a royal commission turned the ASIC Capability Review into an unlikely catalyst for an enhanced enforcement agenda With Labor pushing hard for a royal commission into the banking and financial services industry and an election looming the Government moved swiftly to announce broad reform ...

In its response to the capability review into ASIC the Federal Government has made a commitment to accelerate the implementation of a product intervention power for ASIC and the product design and distribution obligations for the financial services industry but it left to one side some other ...