Australian Update - Guide to Sustainable Collaborations – ACCC - On 8 July 2024, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) published a draft guide on Sustainability collaborations and Australian competition law...more
On 22 August 2024, the Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill), which requires certain organisations to make mandatory climate-related financial...more
Australian Update - Proposed Code of Practice to Reduce Modern Slavery Through Lending, Investment and Asset Management - The New South Wales (NSW) Anti-Slavery Commissioner (Commissioner) recently released its discussion...more
8/20/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Anti-Slavery Commissioner ,
ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forced Labor ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Sustainable Finance
Australian Update - Australia and EU Enter Into Critical and Strategic Minerals Partnership - On 28 May 2024, Australia and the European Union (EU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a bilateral partnership to...more
7/5/2024
/ Amended Regulation ,
Australia ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Minerals ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance
Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” was one of the highest grossing music tours of all time with approximate proceeds exceeding US$1 billion. While this is a monumental feat, Taylor Swift also gained negative attention during the tour...more
6/26/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Off-Set Credits ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Net Zero ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
On 27 March 2024, the Australian Government published the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (New Bill), which superseded the previous exposure...more
AUSTRALIAN UPDATE - Updated Bill to Introduce Climate-Related Financial Reporting Regime - Background - The Australian Government released the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market...more
5/29/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
Australian Update - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Enforcement Priorities for 2024-2025 - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its enforcement and compliance priorities for...more
4/26/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Bonds ,
Greenwashing ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Small Business ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
Australia welcomes new business and foreign investment by providing a strong economy, a stable political environment and a skilled and talented workforce. Our comprehensive guide to Doing Business in Australia has been...more
4/19/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Development ,
Business Entities ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Competition ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Immigration ,
Income Taxes ,
Insolvency ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Joint Venture ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
National Security ,
Notice Requirements ,
Partnerships ,
Patents ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities ,
Sole Proprietorship ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Rates ,
Thin Capitalization ,
Trademarks ,
Trusts ,
Venture Capital
Australian Update - Australian Securities and Investments Commission Continues Greenwashing Enforcement Efforts - On 28 February 2024, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported that an outsourced...more
4/2/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Minerals ,
Misleading Statements ,
Natural Resources ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
Australian Update - Draft Legislation – Climate-Related Financial Disclosures The Australian Government has released Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Climate-related financial disclosure, which is draft legislation...more
3/1/2024
/ Anti-Slavery Commissioner ,
ASIC ,
Audits ,
Australia ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Sustainability
Overview - Background - The Australian Government recently released an exposure draft of the legislation to implement mandatory climate-related financial disclosures (Draft Legislation). This follows the release of draft...more
2/20/2024
/ Australia ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Due Diligence ,
Duty of Care ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability
As many global financial services organisations know, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) during 2020 finalised its Regulatory Guidance for Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs) to transition to...more
UPDATE ON ASIC FOREIGN AFSL REGIME - It has now been over five months since the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commenced its foreign Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) regime....more
Since our last update in late June, governments and regulators have been continuing to address COVID-19 issues with new updates released regularly. Notably, regulators have also extended some temporary measures given the...more
There are many government and regulator initiatives aimed at addressing COVID-19 issues and new responses emerge on a daily basis. We have summarised those announcements, relevant to the superannuation and funds management...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released on 10 March 2020 its finalised Regulatory Guide 176 for Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs).
There are some differences in the final RG 176...more
On 23 October 2019, the Senate Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology (Committee) published an issues paper regarding its comprehensive inquiry into fintechs and regtechs in Australia....more
Welcome to the first of a regular series of K&L Gates Legal Insights addressing the new enforcement environment in financial services.
The Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released on 3 July 2019 Consultation Paper 315: Foreign financial services providers (CP 315) which seeks feedback on the proposed introduction of a modified...more
On 30 May 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) updated its Information Sheet 225 which sets out guidance for entities that are looking to raise funds through initial coin offerings (ICOs) or are...more
In December 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled an enforcement action with Wealthfront, one of the industry’s leading robo advisors....more
On 18 March 2019, the Federal Australian Government announced its plan to establish the national blockchain roadmap (Roadmap) which intends to focus developing regulation, skills and capacity building, innovation, investment...more
Following on from the Senate Hearings in January 2019, the Economic References Committee (Committee) published its Report on credit and financial services targeted at Australians at risk of financial hardship....more
The Final Report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry was released on 4 February 2019. In addressing the findings from hearings into the insurance industry,...more