Generally, foreign companies offering securities in Australia need to comply with the prospectus provisions in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act). However, in addition to the normal...
A recent Federal Court decision provides further guidance on the use of the word 'natural' in product branding or advertising.
With the introduction of the new Regulator, we can expect an increased focus on compliance with water laws in NSW.
New draft legislation will potentially reform the Corporations Act to curb misuse of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG), which often leads to the cost of employee entitlements being shifted to...
Compliance has never been more critical than it is now given the increase in penalties.
There is increasing importance for insolvency practitioners of pragmatic judicial application of equitable principles (rather than statutory priority rules) in seeking priority payment of their...
The obligations of employers in relation to employee records have become more important under the recent changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) as a result of the Fair Work Amendment...
Justice Murphy has clarified that the decision in Money Max was specific to the facts of that case, and not intended to establish broad principles that would apply to all cases in which a common...
One of the most important mechanisms in a contract for allocating risk is the ability to exclude “indirect” and “consequential” loss using exclusion clauses. It is typically on a party’s list of...
The amendments to the Corporations Act1 to broaden the ‘safe harbours’ for directors on an insolvency were passed by Parliament on 12 September 20172 and are awaiting a date for commencement.
On 12 September 2017, some of the most significant reforms of Australia’s corporate insolvency laws in recent years were passed by both Houses of the Australian Federal Parliament. These reforms...
In 2016, the Australian Federal Government, following the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval process, rejected the bids for proposed partial sale of the New South Wales state owned...
Amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 will increase penalties available for breaches of workplace laws, and aim to strengthen the powers of the Fair Work Ombudsman.
A recent appeal judgment has confirmed the validity of ‘holding’ deeds of company arrangement, or ‘Holding DOCAs’ under the Corporations Act .
It is opportune to review the reforms and consider their implications for corporate transactional activity in the media sector.
The target is within sight for the draft Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle (CCIV) legislation to be finalised.
On 4 August 2017, the Chairman of the ACCC, Mr Rod Sims, confirmed a major shift in ACCC policy towards “more intensive information-gathering” when it is reviewing contentious merger proposals. As...
The various decisions handed down in this litigation (from Courts of all levels) confirm the conventional position in Australia in relation to unconditional guarantees.
Pre-emptive rights have the potential to complicate the sale process of a property. If a property owner agrees to grant a pre-emptive right to another party, it should be mindful of how this may...
With shifts in international politics and sentiment, it is timely to revisit the current status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA...
Two recent cases have provided valuable guidance on the enforceability of restraint of trade obligations against former employees in contracts for the sale of a business. The cases make it clear...
There are a number of associated issues and uncertainties regarding a new exemption certificate for business acquisitions by foreign investors (Business EC).
As announced in the 2017/18 Federal Budget, a number of changes to Australia’s foreign investment regime came into force on 1 July 2017.
Members of the Senate have temporarily put aside considerations of postal votes, plebiscites and dual citizens to approve the safe harbour and related laws.