A parliamentary inquiry has been announced into whether Australia should introduce a legislation authorising the government to impose sanctions against gross human right abusers. ...

Australia's modern slavery reporting regime was introduced one year ago, and 2020 will see the first set of modern slavery statements published by reporting entities. ...

The Queensland Supreme Court has refused an application by a class action plaintiff seeking to compel the defendant to disclose its insurance policy and documents relating to its insurance position. In doing so, the court commented on the recent Federal Court decision in the Radio Rentals class action but came to a different result on the facts. This decision shows that when determining whether or not to make an order for disclosure, the court is likely to take into account the defendant's financial capacity, and may be less likely to make such an order where the defendant's solvency is not a concern. ...

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Corporate Crime) Bill 2019 (the 2019 Bill) in the Senate, and the Attorney-General's Department has released Draft Guidance on the steps a body corporate can take to prevent an associate from bribing foreign public officials for public consultation (the Draft Guidance).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and Associate Lewis Winter report on the key differences between the 2017 and 2019 Bills, and the content of the Draft Guidance. ...

The United Kingdom High Court (the Court) recently handed down its judgment in Amey Highways Ltd v West Sussex County Council, which considered the abandonment of a government procurement process following a breach of relevant procurement regulations by a public agency. For government departments and agencies in particular, this case clarifies when a public agency can abandon a procurement process and what remedies may be available to bidders in these circumstances. ...

Draft legislation has been released that contains details of the Exploration Development Incentive announced as part of the 2014-15 Federal Budget The scheme is designed to encourage equity investment in greenfield explorers by enabling explorers to issue exploration credits to its investors Partner ...

FTSE 100 companies have consulted far more widely with their shareholders on board pay and there have been far fewer shareholder revolts on pay as a result These are among the key findings of a Linklaters report analysing how FTSE 100 companies - throughout the 2014 AGM season - have reacted to the ...

In a recent decision the New South Wales Supreme Court held that a sufficiently significant failure to meet budget expectations could constitute a material adverse change and upheld the lenders right to serve a default notice and accelerate repayment on this basis Partner Diccon Loxton and Lawyer ...

The Senate Economics Committees Report into ASICs performance is an interesting read It opens by calling ASIC a timid hesitant regulator too ready and willing to accept uncritically the assurances of a large institution And continues in a similar vein for almost 500 pages ASIC says it does the best ...

Green Bonds have been part of the international capital markets landscape for some time and recently the World Bank announced the first A Green Bonds to be issued into the Australian debt capital market If developments in the European Green Bond market are a good indicator there is potential for ...