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. ...

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 ...

The Federal Court has issued the first court-ordered civil penalties for breaches of the National Electricity Rules demonstrating a willingness to apply an agreed pecuniary penalty negotiated by regulators and respondents This decision is important not just to the energy sector but also to ...

The Federal Government today released its long-awaited response to the Financial System Inquiry The Government says it has accepted all but one of the Inquirys 44 recommendations released late last year And this is broadly true with the only substantial recommendation to be rejected being the ...

This Insight examines the latest developments in international arbitration ...

The release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement has renewed the debate about the ability of foreign investors to sue governments under investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms which are commonly part of international trade agreements or investment treaties between States ...

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 ...

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 Access to Justice Arrangements report proposes broad-ranging reforms to our civil justice system with the aim of improving access to justice Partner Belinda Thompson and Lawyer Annie Santamaria highlight some recommendations which also have the potential to impact more broadly on Australias ...

Following a decision earlier this year preventing a solicitor from acting in a class action in which the solicitor managed and controlled the representative plaintiff the Victorian Supreme Court has held that a solicitor and senior counsel should be prevented from acting in a class action in which ...