The Productivity Commissions draft report on competition in the financial system released earlier in February makes 25 draft recommendations a key focus of which are reforms to the regulatory system ...

As regulatory and political pressure increases on the major banks in Australia alternative credit providers are entering the market with a variety of products to attract borrowers The unitranche loan is an example of one such product Partner Warwick Newell Senior Overseas Practitioner Alex Tonkin ...

Vietnam continues to be an attractive destination for foreign investors As well as raising capital from equity investors both Vietnamese and foreign-invested enterprises continue to require foreign debt capital in the form of loans from overseas banks to establish and grow their businesses here ...

In a recent case a leasing company lost 23 million worth of leased equipment because it had registered the lease against the lessee companys ABN rather than its ACN - involving just two extra digits The equipment vested in the lessee company when it went into voluntary administration The court ...

Earlier today Treasury released exposure draft regulations for Innovative Superannuation Income Streams They set out income stream standards that will be relevant for products such as deferred annuities and group self-annuitised products The Allens Superannuation team reports ...

Fund financing facilities have continued to flourish in Australia providing sponsors general partners and trustees with additional funding flexibility and liquidity Allens Partner Tom Highnam Managing Associate Rita Pang and Associate Victoria Johns provide an overview of the funds sector current ...

The ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce members and terms of reference have been announced The terms of reference are very broad and come as no surprise with an emphasis on evaluating the adequacy of ASICs enforcement toolkit We analyse the key themes that are likely to emerge ...

A director of a bank life company or general insurer who read APRAs recent information paper on risk culture could be excused for indulging in a wry smile Since mid-2015 he or she has been subject to legislative obligations concerning risk culture However the information paper suggests that APRA is ...

Allens has adopted e-signature using DocuSign as a service to clients. Senior Finance Counsel Diccon Loxton has written an article in two parts that examines the efficacy of e-signatures. ...

The European Securities and Markets Association has published its initial advice and opinion on the functioning of the marketing passport and national private placement regimes since the implementation of AIFMD and the possibility of extending the marketing passport to non-European fund managers ...