A recent decision of the Full Federal Court has lowered the threshold for unconscionable conduct. The decision of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘ACCC’) v Quantum Housing Group Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 40 (‘Quantum Case’) has removed the need to establish a special disadvantage on the part of the victim, placing a stronger emphasis on… Read more
On 17 February 2021, the Federal Treasurer announced the introduction of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill (‘2021 Bill’) which will introduce permanent changes to the continuous disclosure requirements imposed on listed entities and other disclosing entities. These permanent changes build on the temporary continuous disclosure changes which were introduced in May… Read more
We are living through an increasingly digital age. We’ve recently experienced, on both an individual and industrial scale, the adaptability of technology and the tangible effects of globalisation. Due to this interconnected world, personal data provided online can be readily shared to various third parties; including between businesses, employees and contractors, or government agencies. If… Read more
Using standard form contracts prevents the need to redraft a new contract every time a transaction occurs, saving both time and cost. But, where unequal bargaining power exists, a standard form contract could include terms which disproportionately benefit the party with greater bargaining power. Under contract law, those agreements are legal although they might be… Read more
Updating Disclosure Document For franchisors that operate on a standard financial year (that is, June to July), it is time to review your Disclosure Document and to update that document to reflect any changes that occurred in the last financial year. Under the Competition and Consumer Act (Industry Codes-Franchising) Regulation 2014 (Cth) (the ‘Code’), a… Read more
On 22 September 2020, ASIC released the ASIC Corporations (Stub Equity in Control Transactions) Instrument 2020/734, following a long-running consultation process in relation to the use of stub equity in control transactions (such as takeovers and schemes of arrangement). ASIC had initially proposed to make major changes to these rules, but these changes were strongly… Read more
At the beginning of each year, in February, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘ACCC’) releases its Compliance and Enforcement Priorities. Unusually, but due to the impact of COVID-19 and the measures introduced by Australian State and Federal Governments, the ACCC has recently announced adjustments to those enforcement priorities taking into account those measures and… Read more
The Australian Government has released the first tranche of draft regulation for its proposed reforms to Australia’s foreign investment regime, due to come into effect from 1 January 2021, and recently completed a consultation process on this first tranche of draft regulations. The second tranche of exposure draft regulations are due to be released later… Read more
If you’re sitting in your dining room in Melbourne, home schooling your children, working with your team remotely and watching the rest of the country carry on regardless, you may be wondering whether the majority of Australians quite understand that there is a pandemic playing out. With the economy struggling, institutional investors with obligations to… Read more
ASIC has recently implemented a raft of measures aimed at reducing the compliance burden for issuers undertaking an initial public offering (‘IPO’), while ensuring investor protection and market integrity are not compromised.
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