Financial Services AU

  • July 09, 2026

    Aussie Brokers Didn't Make Personalized Pitches: Insurer

    An insurer has pushed back against a class of Aussie Home Loan customers' claims that it trained mortgage brokers to offer inappropriate personalized financial advice regarding its mortgage protection insurance, saying in Federal Court on Thursday that its training and selling system was clearly based around a generalized advice model.

  • July 09, 2026

    Ex-ANZ Trader Loses Bid To Unredact Privileged Bank Docs

    A Federal Court judge has dismissed former ANZ banker Etienne Alexiou's bid to force the bank to produce unredacted documents in his employment dispute, finding ANZ had validly claimed legal advice privilege, in a judgment published on Thursday. 

  • July 09, 2026

    Magellan Standstill Fueled Bolton's $4.3M Bonus, Court Told

    Investor Nicholas Bolton's personal signing of a standstill agreement ending his activism against the Magellan Global Fund was of "critical importance" to the $17.8 million options deal and million-dollar bonus paid by Keybridge Capital, the Federal Court has heard.

  • July 08, 2026

    Keybridge Board Accused Of 'Culture Of Award' By Investor

    The former board of investment firm Keybridge Capital has been accused of a "culture of award" in approving a "huge, extraordinary" payment to managing director and investor Nicholas Bolton, investors alleged in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.

  • July 08, 2026

    Court Says Clive Palmer's Claims Against Ex-ASIC Head Speculative

    Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has lost his appeal over the dismissal of his case against former ASIC Chair James Shipton, with the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia ruling Palmer's case was based on "pure speculation" and ordering him to pay Shipton's costs on Wednesday.

  • July 07, 2026

    Mark Latham, Justice Jackman To Talk At Samuel Griffith Conf

    Independent NSW parliamentarian Mark Latham will deliver a speech titled, "The Rise and Fall of Social Engineering," at The Samuel Griffith Society's annual conference in Sydney next month, the conservative legal group told Law360.

  • July 07, 2026

    Noumi Ex-CEO Hid 'Football Fields' of Rotten Milk, Court Told

    The sight of "football fields of rotten milk" should have incited the former chief executive of Noumi, a dairy and plant-based food company  formerly Freedom Foods Group, to act on his financial obligations and write down the stock's value, ASIC has alleged in the Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday.

  • July 07, 2026

    Star Takes $55M Charge In ATO Junket Tour Tax Dispute

    Star Entertainment has agreed to pay $55 million to settle disputes with the Australian Taxation Office over underpayments on GST and withholding tax treatment on payments to junket tour operators who brought high-worth gamblers to its casinos, it said on Tuesday.

  • July 07, 2026

    ASIC Not Subject To Federal Compensation Claims, Federal Court

    A Federal Court judge in Melbourne has rejected a bid by an investor in collapsed luxury developer Lion Property Group to revive his claim for compensation from ASIC over allegedly negligent administration of the failed company, finding a federal reparations scheme can't be applied to the regulator.

  • July 06, 2026

    Nuix Loses Appeal Over $10M Berkshire Insurance Retention

    The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed an appeal by Nuix over Berkshire Hathaway's insurance retention and ordered the analytics software firm to pay the defendants legal costs on top of the $10 million fee before the insurers' liability could be triggered.

  • July 06, 2026

    AUSTRAC Wants Law Firm Anti-Money Laundering Info Share

    AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas has warned micro money laundering poses a real threat and signaled demand for regulator collaboration with the legal industry to prevent it, in a speech in Melbourne.

  • July 06, 2026

    Macquarie, Netwealth May Face Uncompensated Losses Case

    Gordon Legal said it is probing a potential class action against a group of superannuation firms and trustees, including Macquarie Bank and Netwealth, stemming from "uncompensated losses" related to the high-profile $1.1 billion collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds.

  • July 06, 2026

    High Court Launches Multi-Factor Authentication From July 17

    Lodging court documents to the High Court of Australia and monitoring ongoing cases will require multi-factor authentication for all users from July 17, the court said on Friday.

  • July 03, 2026

    The Lawyers' Guide To New Anti-Money Laundering Laws

    Stringent new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding requirements have left the legal industry with uncertainty around their application, clashes with legal professional privilege and additional compliance burdens. Law360 talks to industry experts for top tips on navigating the AML/CTF Tranche 2.

  • July 03, 2026

    Court Approves $20.5M ASX Fine On Misleading Updates

    A Federal Court judge on Friday approved the Australian Stock Exchange's settlement with ASIC over misleading updates the ASX made about its CHESS clearing and settlements project, including a $20.5 million penalty and $3 million of ASIC's costs.

  • July 03, 2026

    ASIC Issues Stop Order on Stratfund Private Credit Funds

    ASIC has temporarily stopped investments in two private credit funds sold by Stratfund Limited due to concerns the products were being sold to financially unsuitable retail investors using misleading target market documents.

  • July 03, 2026

    APRA Promotes McCarthy Hockey to Deputy Chair, Adds Bradbury

    The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced two new deputy chairs on Friday, including Board of Taxation Chair David Bradbury and current APRA member Therese McCarthy Hockey.

  • July 02, 2026

    A&O Advice 'Damning' On $4.7M Keybridge CEO Bonus

    A&O Shearman's advice to the board of Keybridge Capital was "damning" on the possibility of paying a $4.75 million bonus to CEO and investor Nicholas Bolton after he engineered the 2023 sale of Magellan Global Fund options worth $17.8 million, the NSW Supreme Court heard on Thursday according to the plaintiff's counsel.

  • July 02, 2026

    KPMG New Chair Says Senator's Whistleblower Claim 'False'

    KPMG Australia's newly appointed Chairman Michael Ebeid accused Senator Deborah O'Neill of making "completely false" statements when she used parliamentary privilege to read out the auditing firm's whistleblower disclosures, according to emails released by the parliamentary joint committee in response to his appointment on Thursday.

  • July 02, 2026

    Government Wants 40-Fold Penalty Lift For Tax Misconduct

    The federal government on Wednesday introduced legislation intended to crack down on misconduct by tax advisors, including a 40-fold increase in maximum civil penalties for corporations and partnerships, and new criminal penalties for unregistered tax agents.

  • July 02, 2026

    ASIC Cancels Capital Guard Bank License On Fake Bond Sale

    ASIC has cancelled the financial services license of Sydney-based Capital Guard Au Pty Ltd after it raised $100,000 by a fake Macquarie Bank bond prospectus and other "misleading and deceptive" conduct, the regulator said on Thursday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Norton Rose's Australian Chief Says Active In Alternate Billing

    Alternative models to the traditional billable hour including fixed fees and value-based billing are on the table for Norton Rose Fulbright's new Australian Country Head Marshall Bromwich as part of the firm's "client-focused" approach and an uptick in AI use.

  • July 01, 2026

    Bolton Says Keybridge's $4.7M Payment Properly Disclosed

    Investor Nick Bolton argued a $4.75 million payment from Keybridge Capital was properly disclosed despite agreeing it was an "extraordinary transaction" in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Treasury Eyes ASIC Licensing, Bigger Fines For Big Four

    ASIC could be given powers to impose bigger civil penalties, enforce new licences and mandate tendering for audits every ten years under new proposals for the consulting, accountancy and audit industry by Treasury on Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Bankruptcy No Barrier To Running Self-Managed Super: Judge

    A Federal Court judge in Sydney has allowed a bankrupt former construction company manager to continue managing his self-managed superannuation fund, finding relief from management disqualification is available to all super fund managers despite a lack of clarity in the governing law.

Expert Analysis

  • Blue Star Shows Why Liquidators Need Approval Rule Reform

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    The recent Queensland Supreme Court decision in Blue Star Care v. Rimcroft highlights the uncertainty surrounding Section 477(2B) of the Corporations Act court approvals regime, meaning that until outright reform is implemented liquidators must make unsatisfactory choices between what is safe and what is in creditors’ best interests, says Robert True at Quinn Emanuel.

  • What ACCC Data Reveals About Finance Deals

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    Recent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission data confirm that clearances under the new mandatory merger control regime are moving faster than anticipated and that the system’s waiver process works particularly well for low-risk transactions, making it a natural fit for the financial services sector, say lawyers at Squire Patton.

  • Australian Payments Reg. Proposals Will Broaden Oversight

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    The Australian government’s recent payments regulation proposals for a more activity-based licensing framework will significantly expand the perimeter of entities, indicating that the regulators view payment systems, digital assets and tokenized financial infrastructure as part of a connected regulatory ecosystem, say lawyers at Corrs.

  • Australia's Computer Patent Ruling Will Aid Global Companies

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    While courts around the world have struggled to articulate a technology-neutral test for patentability of computer-implemented inventions, a recent decision by Australia's top court offers a decisive answer, creating strategic opportunities for overseas applicants, say attorneys at Mallesons.

  • Assessing The Significance Of Australia-EU's Free Trade Deal

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    The recently concluded Australia-European Union free trade agreement could be a springboard for a more ambitious initiative bringing together the EU and the economies of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a critical mass capable of shaping norms across subsidies, sustainability disciplines and competition policy, says Alan Yanovich at Akin Gump.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: ICSID Enforcement In Australia

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    The Federal Court of Australia recently ruled for award creditors in Blasket Renewable Investments v. Spain in a judgment that explains how Australia's statute book operationalizes the promise of depoliticized enforcement under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention while accommodating, without yielding to, the centrifugal forces of European Union law, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.