The Background: The Australian Treasury has released its second quarterly report of the 2023–24 financial year covering the regulation of foreign investment in Australia during the quarter ended 31 December 2023....more
The Situation: The Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") has published new data breach examples in an update to its continuous disclosure Guidance Note, effective from 27 May 2024 ("Data Breach Examples")....more
The Situation: The Australian government has restated its commitment to foreign investment and announced procedural reforms to Australia's foreign investment framework. The government aims to attract the significant foreign...more
The Australian Federal Parliament recently introduced new requirements for public companies to disclose information about their subsidiaries in their annual report by legislating the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making...more
In recent years, the world has witnessed heightened sensitivity surrounding foreign investments, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny of foreign direct investments ("FDI") on the basis of national security concerns. The...more
The Australian Treasury has released its first quarterly report ("Report") for the 2023-24 financial year covering the regulation of foreign investment in Australia....more
In Short -
The Situation: From July 1, 2023, foreign investors in Australia will be subject to new registration requirements under Australia's foreign investment regime....more
In Short -
The Situation: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") recently released its update on corporate finance regulatory activities for the third quarter of 2022....more
The Situation: The Australian Government has doubled Foreign Investment Review Board ("FIRB") application fees payable by investors who are required to seek approval under the Foreign Investments and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth)...more
Practice Points for Schemes of Arrangement -
Uncertainty in earn-out consideration. ASIC raised concerns where target shareholders were being asked to vote on a scheme—which involved earn-out consideration—where there was...more
Despite the rules around exclusivity provisions in Australia having been relatively settled for many years (the Panel initially published its Guidance Note 7 on 'Lock-up devices' back in 2001), it's been surprising to see two...more
ASIC has released its third quarter update on corporate finance regulatory activities. From an M&A perspective, the update includes ASIC's observations on its public M&A deal statistics, outlines ASIC's recent concerns in M&A...more
9/29/2021
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Corporate Finance ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Insider Trading ,
Internal Controls ,
International Tax Issues ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Takeovers ,
Withholding Tax
The Situation: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") recently released its quarterly Corporate Finance Update. Hot topics include Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPACs"), electronic delivery of...more
Following in the footsteps of its international counterparts, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ("APRA") is ramping up its guidance on the management of climate-related risks.
On 22 April 2021, APRA released...more
The Situation: After conducting a period of market surveillance, Australian Securities & Investments Commission ("ASIC") Commissioner Cathie Armour recently released a statement reiterating ASIC's expectation that disclosing...more
The Situation: The Australian government has introduced significant changes to its foreign investment review framework. The centrepiece of the changes is an enhanced review of acquisitions of property or businesses which are...more
KEY LEGAL AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS -
Legislative and Regulatory Reform -
Permanent reforms in respect of virtual meetings and electronic execution -
On 19 October, the Federal Government released for...more
11/18/2020
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ,
Bankruptcy Reform ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Federal Budget ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FIRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relief Measures ,
The Corporations Act ,
Virtual Meetings
The Situation: The Australian Taxation Office ("ATO") has broadened its role in the process for reviewing foreign investment proposals, through closer engagement with foreign investors pursuing acquisitions, mergers and...more
The Situation: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") recently released its report on its corporate finance regulatory activities for the first half of 2019.
The Result: While ASIC's report makes...more
10/3/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
ASIC ,
Australia ,
Board of Directors ,
Controlled Transactions ,
Corporate Financing ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Scheme of Arrangement
The Situation It was recently reported that an Australian proxy adviser had queried whether the directors of a substantial Australian Securities Exchange-listed ("ASX") target, DuluxGroup, should have negotiated a Go Shop...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") recently released the "ASIC regulation of corporate finance: January to June 2018" report that demonstrates ASIC's increased preparedness to take action on...more