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.
As discussed in our previous blog, in March, the Federal Government put in place temporary relief measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which included some relief for personal liability for insolvent trading. These COVID-19 relief measures apply in addition to the existing safe harbour protection introduced in 2017 but were due to cease on… Read more
The Australian federal Government has now launched an online register (‘Register’) which houses modern slavery statements (‘Statements’) and is administered by the Australian Border Force. See https://modernslaveryregister.gov.au/. What is modern slavery? Modern slavery describes situations where offenders use coercion, threats or deception to exploit vulnerable victims and undermine freedom. Examples of modern slavery include human… Read more
When planning a material acquisition, one of the key matters for an ASX-listed entity to consider is whether the acquisition will be funded from existing cash resources, from debt, from the proceeds of a capital raising, or from the issue of scrip consideration to the vendors (or a combination of these sources). Where the ASX-listed… Read more
A Roman attending the Colosseum 2,000 years ago could be forgiven for thinking that the Roman Empire would last forever. And so to, 2,000 years before the Roman Empire, a tributary visiting the fabled Palace of Sargon may have believed that the Assyrian Empire would last forever. For all of us, our views and expectations… Read more
Hon Christopher Pyne, Chair, Pyne & Partners It remains to be seen what the announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, that the Covid 19 Pandemic National Cabinet process and apparatus will replace the Council of Australian Governments structure, will mean in practice. COAG has been in place since the early days of the Keating Government.… Read more
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