Articles

Queensland moves to reduce 'Green Tape'

The Queensland Government has released a discussion paper announcing its intention to reduce "Green Tape" for business and government by providing a streamlined regulatory process for environmental...

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SA's new landholder duty: the devil in the detail

The details of South Australia...s proposed landholder duty regime have now been released with the Statutes Amendment (Land Holding Entities and Tax Avoidance Schemes) Bill 2011 (Bill) introduced...

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ACCC v Allergy Pathway - extra caution needed for companies using social media networks

A recent decision of the Federal Court provides a warning for companies that use social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to promote their businesses. In ACCC v Allergy Pathway...

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Turning income into capital or capital into income

Can a trustee treat receipts or outgoings as being on capital or income account irrespective of the nature of the receipt or outgoing? Legal and tax advisers have expressed various views on the...

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Ambiguous fee arrangements: how courts can read them narrowly

The decision of the NSW Court of Appeal in JP Morgan Australia Ltd v Consolidated Minerals Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 3 on 8 February 2011 emphasises the extent to which the Courts are prepared to read...

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FOFA: Wholesale v Retail Options Paper

In January 2011, Treasury released an Options Paper on the wholesale v retail client distinction, as part of the Future of Financial Advice (or FOFA...

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Gas Security Amendment Bill

The Queensland State Government has recently introduced the State Gas Security Amendment Bill. The legislation has a number of objectives which...

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Comments on Proposed ASX Listing Rules Amendments

JWS made a submission to ASX commenting on the consultation paper and exposure draft relating to proposed amendments to the ASX Listing...

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Proposed ASX Listing Rule amendments facilitating accelerated rights issues

In January 2011, ASX issued a consultation paper and exposure draft containing proposed listing rule amendments to facilitate commonly used forms of rights issues known as ...accelerated offers...

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2010 JWS AGM season survey results

At the conclusion of the 2010 "AGM Season" we conducted a survey of the business of

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Corporations Amendment Submission

In our December 2010 issue of Acumen, we published an article summarising the Exposure Draft - Corporations Amendment (Improving Accountability on Director and Executive Remuneration) Bill 2011 and...

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ASIC CP 143 - Experts reports and independence of experts

ASIC has issued Consultation Paper 143: Expert reports and independence of experts: Update to RG111 and RG112. In CP143 ASIC proposes changes to its two regulatory guides dealing with content of...

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Electronic transactions and business records

Amendments to the Electronic Transactions Act 2000 were passed by the NSW Parliament on 28 September 2010 and commenced operation in NSW on...

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Handling confidential, price sensitive information: principles of good practice

Chartered Secretaries Australia and the Australasian Investor Relations Association have issued guidance on handling confidential, price-sensitive information. This is in response to ASIC's...

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One month until new consumer laws come into effect - what you need to do now

On 1 January 2011, Australia's consumer protection laws will be replaced by new legislation. While the majority of the new laws do not substantially change your existing obligations when dealing...

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The new Australian Consumer Law - what does it mean for your business?

From 1 January 2011, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) will be amended by the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act (No. 2) 2010 and replaced by the Competition and Consumer...

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New Dividend Payment Rules

From 28 June 2010, the law relating to the payment of dividends by companies has changed, including the replacement of the traditional "profits test" for determining whether a company can pay a

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Taxation treatment of earn out rights

As part of the Commonwealth Budget 2010-11, the Assistant Treasurer announced the Government...s intention to enact legislation to apply a ...look-through... capital gains tax (CGT) treatment for...

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The proposed Minerals Resource Rent Tax

On 2 July 2010 the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, and the Minister for Resources and Energy issued a Joint Media Release (JMR). The JMR announced a 'breakthrough agreement' and

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Online voting without a proxy

Online voting by shareholders without a proxy form has become more and more popular in the last few years. Large companies such as Telstra, Commonwealth Bank and Wesfarmers have put in place...

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Resource Super Profits Tax

The mining industry...s reaction to the Australian Government...s proposal to enact a Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT), a rent based tax, as recommended by Australia...s Future Tax System (Henry...

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ASX Listing Rule Amendments: governance issues, dividend announcements and share purchase plans

ASX has amended several Listing Rules; this article reviews the amendments and how they relate to listed...

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Overview of the Short Term Trading Market

The Short Term Trading Market (STTM) is a mandatory wholesale gas market which operates at various hubs,1 initially at the Sydney Hub and the Adelaide...

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Recovery of cost of proceedings denied as a result of belated s477(2B) applications

In circumstances where the number of retrospective applications made by liquidators under section 477(2B) of the Corporations Act for Court approval to enter into agreements of more than 3 months...

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