351-360 of 455 results
ASIC issues hardship withdrawal relief to responsible entities
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASIC has provided relief reminiscent of the GFC to allow hardship withdrawals from frozen funds. The COVID-19 version of hardship-relief goes further than its GFC predecessor in many respects. We provide an overview of the issue. ...
'Winding back' responsible lending obligations
The Government announced a simplification to Australia's consumer credit regulatory regime, which has been widely reported as a 'wind back' or 'axing' of the responsible lending obligations (RLOs) under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (Credit Act). Learn more from our experts. ...
Act fast, act well: Federal Court decision reinforces the importance of robust compliance programs for banks and other financial services licensees
Chief Justice Allsop of the Federal Court recently imposed on a bank, by consent of ASIC and the bank, civil penalties totalling $10 million for unconscionable conduct in carrying out an inadequate customer remediation process. It highlights the importance of banks and other financial services licensees having in place robust compliance programs and taking prompt and comprehensive action where possible non-compliance is identified. ...
Overhaul of Victorian environmental laws delayed
The Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018 (Vic) (EP Act), which was set to commence on 1 July 2020 (and overhaul environmental laws in Victoria) will now commence on 1 July 2021 as a part of a suite of emergency measures in response to COVID-19. ...
Easing of COVID-19 restrictions prompts return to work planning
States and territories have recently eased the restrictions on business closures and public gatherings, prompting a wave of return to work planning. However, businesses need to be aware of a variety o ...
Varying redundancy payments due to COVID-19 hardship
For some employers, managing the impact of COVID-19 on their business may ultimately involve making redundancies, and some may struggle to meet their obligations to employees with respect to redundancy pay. This article considers this scenario in the context of two recent Fair Work Commission decisions. ...
JobKeeper fortnights – do two fortnights equal a month?
The Fair Work Commission (the FWC) has released an opinion on how to deal with monthly paid employees under the JobKeeper scheme.1 ...
Carbon farming and the Emissions Reduction Fund / Climate Solutions Fund
The legislative regime for the generation of carbon credits from voluntary emissions reduction projects (otherwise known as 'carbon farming') in Australia was first established in 2014. ...