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In response to long-running campaigns and public pressure, the Australian Government has amended the Corporations Act 2001 to significantly increase the protections available to corporate whistleblowers. This now provides for criminal offences and civil penalties for a person causing, or threatening, detriment to a whistleblower or breaching a whistleblower’s confidentiality, including during an investigation into the whistleblower’s concerns. Please see full Publication below for more information. (See Article)

On 20 September 2019, the Federal Court of Australia delivered its much-anticipated judgment in the highly publicised proceedings brought by APRA against IOOF's Chairman, Managing Director, three senior executives and two trustee entities for alleged breaches of the SIS Act. Jones Day acted for the former Chairman, Mr George Venardos. (See Article)

The Situation: Should liquidators be removed under section 90-15 of the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations) in circumstances where they engaged in preappointment discussions with a secured creditor, allegedly failed to investigate the company's affairs promptly, and retained the company's preappointment solicitors? (See Article)

There have recently been a series of developments advancing the Australian medicinal cannabis industry. (See Article)

The Situation: Since the Supreme Court decided Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. ("Morrison") in 2010 and rejected the Second Circuit's "conduct and effects test," the Second Circuit has grappled with the issue of whether securities and commodities transactions are sufficiently "domestic" for the federal securities and commodities laws to apply. The Result: On August 29, 2019, the Second Circuit concluded in Prime International Trading, Ltd. v. BP P.L.C. ("Brent Crude") that the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") could not be applied to certain derivatives transactions on the New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX") because all of the allegedly manipulative conduct in the underlying spot market occurred abroad. (Ver Artículo)

A host of relevant issues - Since the introduction of the remedy in 2015, site-blocking orders have prevented a range of pirated copyright materials, including films, television programs and musical works, from being accessed online. In Australia, site-blocking orders typically require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block the relevant domain name, URL or IP address, and to redirect users to a webpage that informs them that access to the online location has been disabled. (Ver Artículo)

The Situation: A liquidator can reject a "double proof" for what is, in substance, the same debt as another accepted proof of debt. The Question: When are liquidators justified in rejecting what could arguably be a double proof? (Ver Artículo)

On 1 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the chief judicial authority of the European Union) ruled that websites must allow users to actively choose to allow cookies. Dentons Australia privacy lead, Robyn Chatwood, analyses the case and its impact for Australian businesses. (Ver Artículo)

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The Situation: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") recently released its report on its corporate finance regulatory activities for the first half of 2019. The Result: While ASIC's report makes clear that the number of control transactions decreased on the previous period, consistent with the previous period, ASIC's numbers show that foreign acquirers led the charge, accounting for around 70% of deal value and that schemes of arrangement remained the preferred means to execute large deals. (Ver Artículo)

Liability for companies launching an Australian IPO or takeover changed significantly this year—with not so much as a murmur of protest from the market. Due diligence just got more important, but the reason may surprise you. Liability Has Increased - Civil penalty liability now affects prospectuses and takeover documents. That means substantial fines, which are now... (Ver Artículo)

On the 1st July 2019, reform for whistleblowing laws in Australia came into effect. These contain significant changes to the eligibility and protection of corporate whistleblowers, and introduced higher penalties for organisations that fail to meet the new requirements. (See Article)

In White Constructions Pty Ltd v PBS Holdings Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 1166 the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, rejected both parties' expert delay analysis and the methodologies on which they were based, holding that their inclusion in the Society of Construction Law Delay and Disruption Protocol was not a relevant factor for their appropriateness for the case. (See Article)

(As excerpted from our monthly Associate Newsletter - Asia Pacific) - Associate Newsletter – Asia Pacific is a monthly resource that reports current legal market news, trends, partner moves and active opportunities in the Asia Pacific legal markets.... (See Article)

Taking a deposition of a remote witness, especially internationally, often involves thinking outside the box and stepping outside your comfort zone.  When taking depositions of witnesses in more remote areas of the world, the wonders of technology can be your best friend. Mobile videoconferencing is a fantastic option when traditional videoconferencing is not an option at all. (See Article)

As the Commonwealth Government sets its agenda after the recent election, it has tasked the Productivity Commission (PC) to conduct a comprehensive review of the regulatory landscape affecting the resources industry in Australia. (See Article)

The Situation It was recently reported that an Australian proxy adviser had queried whether the directors of a substantial Australian Securities Exchange-listed ("ASX") target, DuluxGroup, should have negotiated a Go Shop period as part of agreeing to a binding offer from Japan-based Nippon Paint. The comment raised eyebrows, not least because Nippon agreed to pay a 35% premium—and a whopping EBITDA multiple of 16.1x. (See Article)

Both houses of the Australian Parliament have passed a repeal of subsection 51(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) ("CCA"). Following the repeal, owners of intellectual property rights in Australia must comply with certain competition rules from which they previously enjoyed an exemption. The repeal is effective on September 13, 2019. (See Post)

On October 21, 2019, significant changes to New South Wales ("NSW") security of payment laws come into effect with the commencement of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Act 2018 and corresponding Regulations. The changes seek to simplify the processes for progress payments and adjudication, and follow some of the recommendations in the December 2017 Review of Security of Payment Law by Mr. John Murray AM (commissioned by the Australian Government). (See Post)

Advertisers are reminded the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2018 (TGAC) was recently amended by the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code) Instrument 2019. The amendments came into effect on 30 July 2019. This is particularly important given the TGA continues to crack down on non-compliant advertising. (See Post)

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") has recently released updates to its existing regulatory guidance on effective disclosure, to clarify its position on the disclosure of climate change-related risks ("climate change risks") and opportunities.(See Post)

Issue number #38 (March 2019) of publication The Journal Jurisprudence is now available

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A resource has been added Coffs Coast Advocate (Coffs Harbour, Australia)

A resource has been added Gatton, Lockyer and Brisbane Valley Star (Gatton, Australia)

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A resource has been added Nambour Weekly (Nambour, Australia)