While the media has focused on the more sensational recommendations of last weeks Senate report on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission there are a number of other interesting comments and themes that provide some clues about future regulation by the Federal Government surveillance ...

A recent Federal Court decision highlights the importance of managing the provision of information and documentation to third parties with caution in order to preserve legal professional privilege Partner Richard Harris and Senior Associate Elnaz Nikibin report on the case ...

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 ...

With the recent Intergenerational Report having further highlighted the need to deliver social outcomes in an efficient way Partners David Donnelly and James Darcy report on the potential role of social benefit bonds in providing social infrastructure and services ...

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 ...

Superannuation fund trustees and their lawyers including this one have been grappling for years with what the covenant in section 522c of the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act 1993 means What must a trustee do to exercise its powers and discharge its duties in the best interests of ...

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 ...

The Federal Government has made the 'time critical' FoFA amendments with new regulations saying that any financial product advice provided to an employer about their default superannuation fund is a financial service provided to a retail client. ...

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis governments and regulators have been busy identifying ways to better protect the financial system from future shocks Among these are measures for arming financial regulators with a more comprehensive crisis management toolkit Of particular concern are ...

After months of political stalemate in negotiations with its creditors to unlock access to bailout funds the Greek government has announced a referendum on proposed bailout conditions an extended bank holiday and the imposition of capital controls ...