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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

From 1 October 2016 a stamp duty surcharge of an additional 3 per cent will apply when a foreign person acquires residential land in Queensland Affected taxpayers should therefore urgently consider whether contracts relating to potentially affected transactions can be exchanged in the next few days ...

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 ...

Board of Taxation's report on tax arrangements applying to collective investment vehicles, released by the Federal Government on 4 June 2015. ...

Regulators particularly in the UK and Australia are increasingly interested in corporate culture in the financial services industry its impact on the integrity of the system and what the regulators are doing to try to entrench a corporate culture that works for the benefit of consumers and investors ...

Those dealing in PNGs capital markets should be aware that the PNG Parliament recently passed a package of legislation to substantially amend and strengthen the regulation of its capital markets The regime will introduce new licensing requirements for those involved in activities such as securities ...

The World Bank has released its Benchmarking Public Procurement 2016 report which provides comparable data on regulatory environments that affect the ability of private companies to do business with governments in 77 economies Allens Partner Leighton OBrien and Linklaters Counsel Julia ...

The Board of Taxations report on tax arrangements applying to collective investment vehicles considers that offshore investors are dissuaded from investing in Australian funds because they do not understand unit trusts and that access to a broader range of collective investment vehicles would help ...