ASIC has released its first report focusing on director and officer oversight of non-financial risk in seven large financial services companies (the First Report). While the report focuses on financial services companies, ASIC points out expressly that all companies, regardless of sector, should read and engage with the findings of this report. ...

ACCC's new Cartel Immunity and Corporation Policy which came into effect on 1 October 2019, now excludes concerted practices and requires a higher level of cooperation from parties seeking to obtain cartel immunity. ...

Federal Court hangs up on ACCC over TPG pre-payments; ACCC calls for more claret-y between winemakers and growers; and Viva/Liberty deal gets green light ...

In a highly anticipated decision, the Full Bench of the Australian Federal Court recently dismissed the appeal in Encompass Corporation v InfoTrack. Despite the opportunity to clarify the scope of patentability of computer-implemented inventions, the question of what encompasses patentable subject matter remains open. ...

The Rix's Creek Continuation Project has been approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission only weeks after the refusal of the Bylong Coal Project. In its approval of Rix's Creek, the Commission accepted that scope 3 emissions are the responsibility of the end customer for coal exports. This conclusion significantly departs from the position taken by the differently constituted Commission on Bylong. ...

The busy run experienced by private equity managers in Australia in the last couple of years slowed down considerably in 2019. As a result, having raised record sized funds, private equity managers will be under considerable pressure from their institutional investors to start deploying more capital ...

The recent case of ASIC v Goldsky Global Access Fund raises a number of compelling questions (some of which we explore below), and fund managers would do well not to place too much stock in the judgment in support of arguments that a trustee of a wholesale fund may act as trustee with the benefit of ...

In a trail-blazing and world-leading move, the ACCC has commenced proceedings against Google, alleging that it engaged in misleading conduct, and made false or misleading representations to consumers about how and when it collects, keeps and uses their personal information in relation to location data. It is the first case brought globally to probe Google's approach to location data collection, and is likely to increase the focus on consumer awareness of data use in digital markets. ...

In this update we summarise the progress of new and existing rule change requests across October 2019 and take a closer look at the AER's Financial Reporting Guideline for light regulation pipelines. ...

The Queensland Government is proposing legislation that will restore a prohibition on landlords requiring tenants to pay land tax under commercial leases entered into after 1 January 1992 and before 30 June 2009 This essentially negates the effect of a Supreme Court decision that land tax from 30 ...