Anti-corruption was high on the agenda at the B20 Australia summit recently held in Sydney Allens Partner Rachel Nicolson a director of the UN Global Compact Network Australia and convenor of its Anti-Corruption Leadership Group attended the summit and provides an overview of the issues discussed ...

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 ...

Partners Leighton OBrien and Nicholas Ng provide an overview on public-private partnerships PPPs in Australia examining the general PPP framework trends in the industry the procurement process operation and maintenance default and termination and financing ...

After almost 10 years of negotiations between the nations on 17 November 2014 Prime Minister Abbott and President Xi announced the conclusion of negotiations on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement ChAFTA Once implemented the ChAFTA is expected to significantly reduce import barriers for ...

With financial services providers already taking advantage of the possibilities created by a new tide of internet meta data we need regulators and a regulatory regime that see the opportunities implicit in the change and not only the risks ...

The recent Great Southern class action settlement included a term by which group members acknowledged and admitted that loans taken out with independent financiers to finance investments in Great Southern managed investment schemes were valid and enforceable Two separate Victorian Supreme Court ...

Key cyber risks faced by ASICs regulated population as well as the legal and compliance obligations to manage those risks are highlighted in a new ASIC report ASIC also identifies steps entities can take to address the risks The report marks a growing focus on cyber security issues by ASIC which is ...

Today the Full Federal Court clarified the law of penalties as it applies to fees The key development is that in considering whether the amount of a fee is extravagant and exorbitant compared to the potential costs incurred in dealing with a failure to perform an obligation the court held that ...

In October 2014 ASIC released its report into retail life insurance advice practices The findings were pretty grim - with poor advice being more common than good or even adequate advice ASIC said that advisers were motivated by the promise of commissions not the interests of their clients Following ...

Corporate culture and its role in shaping conduct within the financial services sector is now clearly at the forefront of ASICs enforcement agenda This focus was apparent in ASICs 2014-2015 strategic outlook released in October 2014 which identified corporate culture as a key risk driver and poor ...