Last night the Senate Economics Legislation Committee released its report on the Corporations Amendment Streamlining of Future of Financial Advice Bill 2014 The Committees recommendations could lead to changes in the treatment of scaled advice and general advice Partner Michelle Levy and Senior ...

While the media has focused on the more sensational recommendations of last weeks Senate report on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission there are a number of other interesting comments and themes that provide some clues about future regulation by the Federal Government surveillance ...

Today ASIC released a report outlining the shortcomings in the disclosure of fees and costs for superannuation and managed investment products While everyone may not like what it says and for some it may be too little too late the more detailed discussion of what the law requires may be helpful ...

In a recent decision the Victorian Court of Appeal has held that parties to an arbitration agreement cannot avoid arbitration by seeking to bring the claim in a statutory tribunal Partner Nick Rudge and Lawyer James Waters report on a case that reinforces the trend of Australian courts to give ...

A key risk faced by self-funded retirees is the possibility that their superannuation savings will not last as long as they will While lifetime pensions and annuities issued by life companies can assist in addressing this risk there has traditionally been a relatively low uptake of these products by ...

For most people working in the financial services industry it would be unwise to let 1 July come and go without asking what will change In 2014 as in 2012 and 2013 1 July is a very significant date under FoFA the Future of Financial Advice ...

We look at the circumstances where a court may not grant an injunction to restrain an employee from working with a competitor the Fair Work Commissions position on legal representation a case that helps clarify when restructuring roles will create genuine redundancy whether a gift to employees who ...

Changes to New Zealand's patent legislation which come into effect on 13 September 2014 will align it more closely to Australia's patent law ...

The Federal Governments electronic health records system may have a new lease on life following the introduction of a new Bill that attempts to improve the systems effectiveness with key changes such as the transition to an opt-out approach Partner Ian McGill Senior Associate Phil OSullivan and ...

The final report of the Review of Governance Arrangements for Australian Energy Markets has made a number of recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of each governing body in the Australian energy market while concluding that the governance arrangements are fundamentally sound ...