By Michael Garry and Nicholas Cardone With effect from 1 April 2020, a new ASIC regulatory regime applies to foreign financial services providers (‘FFSPs’) that provide financial services to wholesale clients in Australia (such as advisory and fundraising activities). Under this new regime, a number of FFSPs that were previously exempt to hold an Australian… Read more

By Michael Garry and Taylor Moore On 20 April 2020 Virgin Australia’s board placed the company into voluntary administration, handing over control to an administrator.  Various commentary is reporting the company had no choice but to enter administration after its requests for financial assistance from the Federal Government were repeatedly rejected. While market factors may… Read more

One encouraging aspect of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the flexible approach of the ACCC, which has demonstrated both a willingness and an ability to work collaboratively with businesses to mitigate and minimise the otherwise catastrophic impacts that COVID-19 could have on our economy. The ACCC has moved quickly to ensure… Read more

If landlords and tenants cannot reach agreement on leasing arrangements under the National Cabinet’s COVID-19 commercial tenancies Code of Conduct (‘the Code’), the matter may be referred by either party to the applicable state or territory retail/commercial leasing dispute resolution process for ‘binding mediation’. Alike the rest of the Code, the dispute resolution mechanism is… Read more

Written by Sallie Emmett The responsibilities of employers when COVID -19 is transmitted to people at work has been exposed by the cluster of COVID-19 cases associated with Qantas baggage handlers, the fact that 50 Qantas and Jetstar staff have been infected with the virus and the concerns expressed about workers on cruise ships. The… Read more

Yesterday afternoon the National Cabinet released a Mandatory Code of Conduct confirming the arrangements for commercial leases during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Code will apply where the tenant has an annual revenue of less than $50m and is eligible for the JobKeeper program and confirms the principles that will apply to commercial tenancies including those… Read more

Written by Taylor Moore and Rebecca Halkett The disruption to trading conditions and forced shutdowns imposed on businesses as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led the government to implement temporary measures to address the impacts on parties to commercial tenancy agreements. On 29 March, the Prime Minister announced a six-month moratorium on evictions.  This… Read more

Written by Taylor Moore and James Burchnall The current health emergency posed by COVID-19 and the implementation of social distancing and restrictions on large gatherings has highlighted several antiquated aspects of corporate law.  In this article, we focus on the challenges companies will face in holding shareholder meetings such as AGMs and where they can… Read more

As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 health emergency continues to develop, many ASX-listed companies will need to explore capital raising as a way to shore up their balance sheets or to address expected cash-flow shortfalls. ASX and ASIC have today announced temporary relief to facilitate some of the most common types of raises. In… Read more

The Federal Treasurer has announced temporary changes to Australia’s foreign investment review framework, which came into effect from 10.30pm on Sunday 29 March 2020. The important temporary measures were put in place to ensure that there is a greater scrutiny on foreign investment into Australian businesses and assets (including land), at a time when Australian… Read more