At the recent APEC conference in Bali the finance ministers of Australia New Zealand Singapore and South Korea signed a formal Statement of Intent on the establishment of the Asia Region Funds Passport which will allow fund managers based in participating countries to market and sell certain managed ...

The ASX has announced that it has now received regulatory clearance for its new mFund Settlement Service previously known as AQUA II and the ASX Managed Funds Service which it hopes will be launched before 30 June 2014 Once established the service will allow investors to transact electronically in ...

The Corporations and Markets Advisory Committees discussion paper about the establishment and operation of managed investment schemes particularly examines governance disclosure and regulatory issues If the changes are implemented it could profoundly affect these schemes Partners Marc Kemp and Penny ...

An exposure draft of proposed legislative amendments designed to reduce the compliance burden for businesses has been released by the Federal Government The amendments include long-awaited changes to the dividend payment rules the abolition of the 100 member rule and updates to remuneration ...

New amending security of payment legislation will soon come into force in NSW that will provide greater protection and certainty for subcontractors in the contracting chain Partner Leighton OBrien and Lawyers Will Coote and Jerome Entwisle look at what will change and the implications ...

New legislation that deals with property transactions in Queensland will have major implications on the sale process of residential property and the licensing of agents Partner Alister Fitzgerald and Senior Associate Annabelle Aland report on the main changes ...

ASIC recently issued a report on the handling of confidential information by listed entities and their advisers focusing on analyst and investor briefings and unannounced corporate transactions While the report does not identify any systemic issues it does highlight a number of areas of concern ...

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 ...

Allens has secured ACCC clearance on behalf of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ( DuPont ) for its proposed merger with The Dow Chemical Company ( Dow ). The ACCC decision follows DuPont's joint ...

A review of Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws will determine whether Australia can and should strengthen its response to money laundering and terrorism financing. ...