Commissioner Hayne's recommendations may initially seem somewhat modest – they do not undo vertical integration, impose limits on executive remuneration or ban bonuses and they do not recommend that directors prefer the interests of their customers. But, while it is true that the recommendations are not radical, there is much in the report that will mean some real changes for financial services companies, their Boards and their executives, as well as for their regulators and advisers. ...

Throughout the Royal Commission, Commissioner Hayne grappled with the difficulties of striking an appropriate balance between ensuring that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have access to credit, and imposing standards on the provision of that credit to protect SME borrowers and third-party guara ...

Allens has advised on one of the largest trade sales of the 2013/14 financial year. The firm advised long-standing client Wesfarmers on the sale of its insurance broking and premium funding busines ...

In preparing its Final Report the FSI has clearly paid close attention to the report of the Senate Economics References Committees Report into ASICs performance and its recommendations designed to strengthen ASIC through a combination of better funding an enhanced regulatory toolkit and higher ...

The Federal Court has recently had another opportunity to consider the application of the promoter penalty provisions in the Taxation Administration Act The Federal Courts recent decision indicates that the promotion of schemes that are clear and deliberate tax exploitation schemes will result in ...

From 1 January 2015 a new common risk management prudential standard will apply to banks general insurers and life companies and in many cases to other companies in the corporate groups in which those institutions sit Michael Mathieson looks at the three lines of defence model that APRA proposes to ...

By a two to one majority the NSW Court of Appeal has held that the Independent Commission Against Corruption had no power under the ICAC Act to investigate an allegation to the effect that as a result of conduct involving an alleged intention to pervert the course of justice a public official had ...

In recent times APRA has been active in prescribing duties for directors of the institutions it regulates In light of what has happened it is worth asking should the question of directors duties be excluded from APRAs prudential standard-making powers ...

After talks of introducing a special tax regime for employee options in start-ups, the Federal Government has reverted back to the global norm of employee options granted by all companies generally being taxed on exercise ...

FTSE 100 companies have consulted far more widely with their shareholders on board pay and there have been far fewer shareholder revolts on pay as a result These are among the key findings of a Linklaters report analysing how FTSE 100 companies - throughout the 2014 AGM season - have reacted to the ...