The Federal Court of Australia has granted relief to a company under section 1317S of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Act") following declarations that it contravened two civil penalty provisions in relation to one of its...more
Recent legal and regulatory developments, including the joint release of APRA and ASIC guidance concerning the new Financial Accountability Regime, APRA's announcement that it will publish superannuation expense data to...more
In Short -
The Situation: In 2020, a cruise ship in Australian waters, the Ruby Princess, experienced a COVID‑19 outbreak that resulted in an Australian class action. Part of the class were passengers subject to...more
Although class actions have been common in the United States for decades, they have not been as widely used in the rest of the world. The situation and risks remain in flux, however, as more countries have renewed momentum to...more
12/22/2023
/ Article III ,
Australia ,
Class Action ,
EU ,
France ,
Germany ,
International Litigation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Settlement ,
Standing ,
UK
A significant newly enacted class actions regime has come into force in Western Australia, as of 25 March 2023.
The Civil Procedure (Representative Proceedings) Act 2022 (WA) ("Act") was enacted in September 2022,...more
This edition of the Update covers:
Recent legal and regulatory developments, including guidance to APRA-regulated entities following the cyber attacks on Medibank and Optus, the release of the inaugural Climate...more
Recent legislative and regulatory developments, including the Federal Government's draft regulations to deregulate litigation funding in class actions and the Civil Procedure (Representative Proceedings) Bill 2021, which...more
More Detail: Regulation of Litigation Funding in Class Actions
In 2009, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, in Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v International Litigation Funding Partners Pty Ltd [2009] FCAFC 147,...more
ASIC's Approach to CEUs Prior to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry ("Royal Commission"), ASIC routinely accepted CEUs as a form of administrative settlement...more
This edition of the Update covers:
KEY LEGAL AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
Regulatory Priorities
ASIC and APRA Release Their Corporate Plans for 2021-25
On 26 August 2021, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission...more
12/1/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
ASIC ,
Australia ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Libor ,
Loans ,
Popular ,
Prudential Standards ,
Regulatory Agenda
The Facts The plaintiffs in two separate class actions (Fox v Westpac Banking Corporation & Anor (Fox) and Crawford v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd & Ors (Crawford)) sought GCOs from the court pursuant to the...more
Proposed Reforms -
The Draft Bill makes clear that 'a class action litigation funding scheme' is an MIS, in line with an earlier ruling of the Federal Court of Australia in Brookfield Multiplex Limited v International...more
Proceedings filed by public interest group Environment Victoria represent the first climate change litigation in Australia to challenge the licence to operate of coal-fired energy producers. A public interest group has filed...more
10/6/2021
/ Australia ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Licensing Rules ,
Pollution Control ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Victorian Supreme Court
NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rules that any admissions made in civil proceedings can be used in future criminal proceedings.
In Turnbull v Office of Environment and Heritage [2021] NSWCCA 190, the NSW Court of Criminal...more
Overhaul of ASIC's Internal Governance Framework ASIC's Corporate Plan for 2021-25 is the first of its kind released under new Chair Joseph Longo and new Deputy Chair and Head of Enforcement Sarah Court, who each started in...more
The Facts In April 2020, a climate action group called Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Incorporated ("BSCA") filed civil enforcement proceedings against the EPA in the NSW Land and Environment Court....more
9/9/2021
/ Australia ,
Breach of Duty ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Policies ,
Global Warming ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Statutory Requirements
On 26 August 2021, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility ("ACCR") initiated proceedings against Australian gas-producer Santos Limited, challenging statements and policies which the ACCR considered...more
BEAR, which came into effect throughout 2018 and 2019, imposed extensive accountability obligations on ADIs and expanded APRA's enforcement powers. You can read our previous Commentary on BEAR here. ...more
Australia's product liability regime is a combination of provisions contained primarily in the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)). These provisions apply to Australian made...more
On 10 August 2021, the Australian Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill, which will permanently reform its continuous disclosure regime and related prohibitions on misleading conduct by...more
This edition of the Update covers: Key Legal and Regulatory Developments Financial Markets The Australian Regulators Reiterate Their Expectations for a Smooth Transition Away From LIBOR On 4 June 2021, ASIC, APRA, and the RBA...more
7/21/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
ASIC ,
AUSTRAC ,
Australia ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Inter-Bank Offered Rates (IBORs) ,
ISDA ,
Libor ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Short Selling
The Situation: In a landmark judgment, on 27 May 2021, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560 (Sharma) that, when deciding whether or not to grant approval to a coal mine...more
This edition of the Update covers:
1. Recent legal and regulatory developments, including the release of ASIC's immunity policy for market misconduct offences, a FATF consultation on proliferation of financial risk and...more
The Situation: It is increasingly common for Australian class actions to be brought by private plaintiffs at the same time as regulatory proceedings are brought by Australia's corporate, competition and other regulators in...more
There is no "one size fits all" approach to competing class actions.
Five competing and overlapping shareholder class actions were commenced in two separate Australian courts against AMP Limited. All actions were...more