vLex Australia

A California company is recalling almost 300,000 pounds of ready-to-eat corned beef that was imported and distributed in the United States without the benefit of import re-inspection, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Milky Way International Trading Corp., doing business as MW Polar of Norwalk, CA, imported the corned beef from... (See Article)

The debate about whether a s553C set-off is available in response to an unfair preference claim has resurfaced. (See Article)

As vaccines get rolled out and lockdowns get rolled back, there’s no doubt countless people across the globe will breathe a deep sigh of relief. While there are no guarantees that the worst of the COVID pandemic is over, steps taken over the past 12 months certainly place many in a better position to deal with whatever happens next. (See Article)

A delegate of the Commissioner of Patents has refused an application (no. 2018204629) by Amazon Technologies, Inc (Amazon) on the basis that it is not for a patent-eligible invention under Australia’s ‘manner of manufacture’ requirement: Amazon Technologies, Inc [2021] APO 7.  Amazon’s claimed invention relates to the execution of processing tasks within a cloud computing... (See Article)

Maybe you’re following the discussion of the proposed Australian legislation that would require digital platforms such as Facebook and Google into negotiations to establish a price to be paid for news content that appears on their sites. A lot is at stake in how the world follows on as to Australia and how business models... (See Article)

On March 1, 2021, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced in the Federal Register the opportunity to request an annual administrative review for products that are currently subject to antidumping and countervailing duties. The products and countries that have been listed in the Federal Register notice are the following: AD Australia: Certain Uncoated Paper Belgium: Acetone Brazil: Certain Uncoated... (See Article)

Background In late December last year, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (PJC) issued its report in the inquiry into ‘Litigation Funding and the Regulation of the Class Action Industry’ (Report). Previously, in August 2018, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia provided a submission to the inquiry.  Our submission focussed on several issues of... (See Article)

This edition of the Update covers: 1. Recent legal and regulatory developments, including the release of APRA's policy and supervision priorities for 2021, the launch of APRA's Cyber Security Strategy 2020 – 2024, Australian regulatory support for the ISDA IBOR Fallbacks Protocol and Supplement, and Australia's renewed focus on sanctions; 2. Two recent Federal Court decisions which support ASIC's position on obligations to comply with ASIC notices and to substantiate any claims for legal professional privilege; 3. The continuing fallout of the Financial Services Royal Commission and the recent cases which demonstrate that ASIC and APRA appear to remain committed to taking enforcement action in relation to matters referred by the Commissioner; (See Article)

The Commonwealth government has passed amendments to legislation about consumer guarantees. The changes add an express threshold about when a series of failures in a good or service become a major failure. (See Article)

On February 24, 2021, USCIS expanded its premium processing service to Petitioners requesting a change of status or extension of status in the E-3 Specialty Occupation Workers from Australia nonimmigrant visa classification... (See Article)

As many global financial services organisations know, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) during 2020 finalised its Regulatory Guidance for Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs) to transition to the new Australian licensing regime which will commence on 31 March 2022. The new licensing regime is being introduced to replace the Class Order exemptions from licensing that ASIC granted in the last 15 years to many FFSPs allowing the provision of investment management services to wholesale and institutional Australian investors. (See Article)

Blogging is still with us, writes Dave Winer, who gave rise to blogging over two decades ago. Winer points that long time blogger, author and journalism professor, Jeff Jarvis went on CNN today to talk about Australia’s clamping down on social media’s use of news publishers’ content, among other things. Jarvis is going on with... (See Article)

Australia Accounts & FBAR Australia Accounts & FBAR  Australia Accounts & FBAR: When it comes to Australia and FBAR reporting, there are a few mainstays that Taxpayers with foreign accounts and assets in Australia should be aware of. While not all accounts in Australia are reportable — a majority of them are reported to the... (See Article)

See note on correction at bottom. From “down under” comes news that is said to be the biggest breakthrough in dairy safety since pasteurization. It has been accepted as “an alternative treatment to pasteurization of raw milk” by Dairy Food Safety Victoria (DFSV) with financial support from both the Queensland state government putting in $190,000... (See Article)

Miro Gladovic is no stranger to the nuances FIFA and professional soccer present. As a player agent from Australia, Gladovic hopes to take his industrial knowledge and place it into the hands of ordinary American families with hopes of making it to the professional soccer level with a revolutionary platform: Soccer Family Agent (SFA). SFA,... (See Article)

An upcoming international criminal tax investigation coordinated by the Joint Chiefs of Tax Enforcement—or the J5—will focus on cryptocurrency and the financial technology industry. The J5 is a collaboration among the revenue authorities of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S. formed in 2018 that leverages the agencies’ collective resources to target financial... (See Article)

Medical Board of Australia v A~ [2021] VCAT 85 (available on Austlii) is of interest for its detailed discussion of whether an admitted sexual assault by a doctor of a former colleague, in a social context, amounted to professional conduct under the National Law. The Tribunal ultimately concluded: [68] … To violate the victim’s personal... (See Article)

Late last year, the High Court of Australia overturned more than 100 years of precedent when it handed down its decision in Calidad Pty Ltd v Seiko Epson Corporation [2020] HCA 41 (Calidad v Seiko). Rather than following the existing principle of ‘implied licence’, in its decision, the High Court adopted a US common law... (See Article)

On 1 January 2021, significant changes to Australia’s restructuring and liquidation regime came into effect for small businesses, including a new restructuring process.  These changes were announced on 24 September 2020, however many aspects of the pending changes did not become clear until the bill and associated regulations were released in December 2020. These changes... (See Article)

A resource has been added Australian Economic Review (from the number 1-1, April 1968)

Several countries around the globe have imposed COVID-19 testing as part of their pre-travel requirements.  In line with these measures, Australia has joined the list of countries requiring COVID-19 testing, with the Department of Home Affairs in Australia announcing new measures.  Commencing on January 22, 2021, anyone traveling or transiting through Australia must provide evidence... (See Article)

There has been significant activity in the Australian mining sector in recent times and many state specific developments since our last Australia mining update. A summary of the key state specific developments follows. Please see full Publication below for more information below. (See Article)

It has been over ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Morrison v National Australia Bank – yet the lower courts continue to struggle with its application in specific situations. Morrison clarified that the U.S. securities laws apply to securities transactions on U.S. securities laws and to domestic transactions in... (See Article)

In its 2020 IP Report, IP Australia introduced a novel measure of patent application filing intensity to identify top applicants – namely, the number of ‘original’ applications filed, excluding any divisional applications.  For the uninitiated, divisional applications are patent applications that are based on subject matter that is ‘divided out’ from previously filed applications (typically... (See Article)

There has been positive growth in the Australian mining sector and many recent developments since our last mining update. A summary of the key national developments follows. Please see full Publication below for more information. (See Article)

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia’s Employment and Labour team has collaborated with our global counterparts to prepare a guide on the status of gig workers across various jurisdictions. The guide is available here. Employment and labour practitioners in each jurisdiction have set out the current employment status at law of gig workers, before explaining the grey... (See Article)

          Makinson d’Apice is very pleased to advise that Bill d’Apice has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day 2021 Honours List. Bill was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the law, to the legal profession, and... (See Article)

Originally published at The Asset Management ADVocate, and available here. Good day.  Good that January is almost over (recognizing that our friends and readers in Australia and other Southern Hemisphere locales are enjoying the blissful days of early to mid-summer – enjoy it for us “up here”).  DR2 (See Article)

The Situation: Australia has become a hot spot for class actions fueled in large part by litigation funders, who have operated for many years in a largely unregulated market and have derived spectacular returns from their investment―in some cases, more than 500%. With the passage in June 2020 of Australia's first regime (in Victoria) permitting lawyers to charge U.S.-style contingency fees, the increase in class action activity is not just expected to continue but potentially lift substantially further if left unchecked. As class action activity has increased, complaints by class members about the level of their returns from settlements or judgments have become more prominent. After the deduction of the litigation funder's share and plaintiff law firm's fees, it is increasingly common for class members in successful actions to obtain returns well below 50% and, in some cases, much lower. (See Article)

In an opinion Friday, Judge Stanton dismissed, on jurisdictional grounds, a case accusing the promoters of an initial coin offering of fraud, because the plaintiffs’ transactions did not occur domestically, as required by Morrison v. National Australia Bank, Ltd., 561 U.S. 247 (2010). The plaintiffs offered declarations from two putative class members who did not... (See Article)