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Corporate Crime) Bill 2019 (the 2019 Bill) in the Senate, and the Attorney-General's Department has released Draft Guidance on the steps a body corporate can take to prevent an associate from bribing foreign public officials for public consultation (the Draft Guidance).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and Associate Lewis Winter report on the key differences between the 2017 and 2019 Bills, and the content of the Draft Guidance.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

On 7 August 2019, the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation (the Convention) will be open for signature.  It will come into force six months after three countries have signed, with Singapore expected to be the first State to do so. ...

After eight years of negotiation, Australia and Indonesia have signed a bilateral free trade agreement that both reduces tariff and non-tariff barriers for trade and investment, and simplifies various regulatory requirements. ...

The Federal Parliament has passed an industrial relations bill that includes significant increases to the whistleblower protections applicable to unions and employer organisations In what would be a comprehensive overhaul of Australias whistleblower laws the Federal Government has separately agreed ...

South Australia has introduced a stamp duty surcharge of 7 per cent for direct and indirect acquisitions of residential land by foreign purchasers, with effect from 1 January 2018. ...

The Australian Government has announced the launch of a broad inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia The inquiry will consider whether the introduction of anti-slavery legislation would strengthen and improve Australias current regime to combat slavery If introduced a Modern ...

The landmark Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement is expected to further strengthen the established complementary economic relationship between the two countries, and to provide new opportunities for cross-border investment and trade. ...

Australia has imposed sector-wide prohibitions on a range of imports to exports from and commercial activities with Russia Crimea and Sevastopol Partner Rachel Nicolson Associate Andrew Wilcock and Law Graduate Alice Crawford report on how these sanctions will impact on companies engaged in business ...

A recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report identifies recent trends in international investment agreements and investor-state dispute settlement - among them a rise in the integration of sustainable development objectives including via more careful regulation by states of ...

The availability of an investment agreement with the host government is fundamentally important for a foreign investor considering the development of a large-scale project in a developing country In its continued efforts to recapture inbound direct foreign investment the Government of Mongolia has ...