Foreign financial services providers relying on passporting a foreign licence to provide their services in Australia will find their regulatory relief could be expiring in 2 years - and has become subject to a new condition - following ASICs actions to repeal the ASIC Class Orders which give effect ...

The Productivity Commission has released an issues paper inviting submissions on the criteria that should be used to assess the efficiency and competitiveness of Australias superannuation system This will be of interest not only to superannuation trustees but also to service providers including fund ...

Last month we were fortunate enough to host Barney Frank co-architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 to discuss financial regulation reform Coincidentally a couple of weeks later we were treated to a presentation on US financial regulation reforms by a US ...

Following the introduction of interim built form controls Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne has announced a proposed amendment to the Melbourne Planning Scheme, which will introduce permanent and stricter built form controls. ...

The Government has finally begun the process of implementing its policy on crowd-sourced equity funding CSEF by introducing a Bill and releasing draft exposure regulations late last year which envisage the establishment of a CSEF regime in Australia The Bill has been referred to the Senate Economics ...

The Federal Attorney-Generals Department has released its draft Project Plan for the implementation of the wide-ranging recommendations arising from the recent statutory review of Australias anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime Partner Peter Haig Associate Andrew Shetliffe ...

ASIC released its report Financial advice Fees for no service today It says that there has been a systemic failure by advice licensees within some of the major banks and AMP to provide ongoing advice in return for ongoing fees The report relates chiefly to arrangements between licensees and clients ...

As the dust settles following the recent federal election it is a good time to reflect on what we can expect from the re-elected Coalition Government for the financial services sector There are two main groups of policy proposals that are going to need to get through Parliament The first is the ...

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 ...

A principal has successfully challenged a decision to grant an interlocutory injunction restraining it from calling on performance bonds ...