The Governments much anticipated FOFA regulations were registered today and provide significant relief for benefits provided to employees and representatives of product issuers who provide general advice They also expressly allow bonuses to be linked to successful product sales providing the bonus ...

Australia and japan have enetered into an economic partnership agreement to reducel tariff barriers on the majority of Australian exports to Japan. In contrast to the recently concluded Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, it does not include an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. ...

Perhaps the most important unanswered question in Australian class action law is how causation may be established in the context of a shareholder class action In the United States this issue has been addressed by the fraud on the market theory This week the US Supreme Court rejected a challenge to ...

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 ...

Allens has advised Iron Mountain Incorporated ( Iron Mountain ) on an Australian dollar syndicated Term Loan B facility to be used for the refinancing of its existing facilities. The financing ...

In the past 12 months the Indian Parliament has passed two important pieces of legislation relating to corporate social responsibility and the allegations of corruption made against public servants. How does it affect you? ...

The sixth round of public hearings considered issues associated with the sale and design of life insurance and general insurance products, the handling of claims under life insurance and general insurance policies, and the administration of life insurance by superannuation trustees. ...

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 ...

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 ...