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 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
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
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
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 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
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
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: 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
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: Australia's Federal Government has announced that it intends to make permanent reforms introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to continuous disclosure requirements for ASX-listed companies. The temporary...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
Australia's corporate regulator has released its Corporate Plan, which outlines its strategic litigation goals and governance initiatives over the next four years.
On 31 August 2020, the Australian Securities and...more
The Situation: Australia's corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") brought proceedings against two former directors of Tennis Australia ("TA") alleging that they engaged in numerous...more
The Situation: The Australian Government has temporarily reduced the monetary thresholds under the Foreign Investments and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) ("the Act")?which had long been in place to exempt some foreign investment...more