ASIC's 'why not litigate?' approach to enforcement activities and its change in tone confirm the new era of regulatory engagement has arrived. In particular, its recent actions in the Federal Court place the waiving of legal professional privilege under the spotlight. ...

The Queensland Government is conducting a major review of property law Partner Tony Davies and Senior Associate Annabelle Aland report on two issues papers that have been released to help stakeholders contribute to the public submissions process ...

Exposure draft life insurance regulations were released yesterday They are a marked departure from the existing conflicted remuneration provisions Now a benefit can only be conflicted remuneration if it could reasonably be expected to influence financial product advice These regulations will create ...

In a recent decision of the Victorian Supreme Court a Melbourne municipal council was held liable to compensate a landowner for the costs that were incurred by the landowner in the course of complying with a clean-up notice issued under the Environment Protection Act 1970 Vic despite the pollution ...

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 ...

ASIC has released a consultation paper about client review and remediation programs to address client losses because of adviser misconduct Partners Michelle Levy and Malcolm Stephens look at what ASIC says a licensee should do if they identify systemic misconduct by advisers providing personal ...

ASIC is consulting on a new regulatory guide for providers of digital financial product advice or robo-advice The regulatory guide is intended to help new entrants and existing Australian financial services licence holders For new entrants and licensees needing a reminder there is a nice summary of ...

Partners David Donnelly and Nicholas Ng examine public-private partnerships PPPs in Australia including the year in review the general framework bidding and award procedures recent decisions and the outlook for 2015 ...

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. ...

Going into the 2013 election the present Government promised a review of the regulatory framework for retirement income streams Today the Government finally released its report It has been a long time coming And while the main outcome - a new category of tax effective pensions and annuities - will ...