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Financial Services AU
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August 21, 2026
Law Firm Drops 'Deposit Flicking' Case After Media Attention
Law firm Agency Settlements has discontinued its case against the founder of conveyancing firm Dott & Crossitt, Jared Zak, and agreed to pay costs over his allegations that it engaged in "deposit flicking," citing media coverage of the matter driving such rapid growth that it could no longer substantiate specific losses, director Lucas McEntee said in a statement to Law360 on Thursday.
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August 21, 2026
Judge Backs NetWealth $100M First Guardian Deal With ASIC
A Federal Court judge has approved a more than $100 million agreement between NetWealth Superannuation and ASIC, with no further penalties for NetWealth, after it paid out customers for their net deposits into the collapsed First Guardian Master Fund.
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August 21, 2026
ART Chief Enlists Staff To Head Off Next Robodebt
The President of the Administrative Review Tribunal and Federal Court of Australia Justice Emilios Kyrou says the sheer volume of cases overseen by the ART makes it impossible for leadership alone to identify systemic maladministration issues, saying he calls on members and staff to bring attention to recurring problems as a safeguard against another "Robodebt-type tragedy."
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August 21, 2026
NSW Judge Must Recuse Over Grievance Against DPP Chief
NSW District Court Judge Penelope Wass has been ordered to stand aside from three criminal cases after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found a reasonable observer may have doubts about her impartiality on the bench.
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August 21, 2026
BGH Tops TPG With $663M Bid For Equity Trustees
Equity Trustees, the superannuation trustee being sued by ASIC over alleged failures linked to the collapsed First Guardian and Shield funds, said it received an unsolicited $663 million takeover bid from Melbourne-based private equity firm BGH Capital, eclipsing TPG Global's offer earlier this week.
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August 21, 2026
Shine Writes Down $13M In Surprise Class Action Ruling
Class action law firm Shine Lawyers said an "unexpected" interlocutory judgment in an ongoing class action has forced it to write down $13.7 million from this year's earnings, though it is considering appealing the case.
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August 20, 2026
Holley Nethercote Sees More Coordinated Regulator Scrutiny
Holley Nethercote managing partner Paul Derham says he expects APRA to use more independent experts that shift power away from banks during remediation, alongside more regulatory overlap by the major financial watchdogs as one investigation prompts greater scrutiny by others.
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August 20, 2026
Mawhinney Can't Dodge ASIC Demand For Company Reports
The Administrative Review Tribunal has upheld an ASIC decision demanding financial reports from three companies run by banned financial director James Mawhinney.
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August 20, 2026
APRA Puts Super Trustees On Notice Over Platform Risks
APRA has told superannuation trustees offering investment platforms to expect "intensive and risk-based supervisory oversight," while saying trustees facing enforcement action will be watched closely to ensure remedial action is appropriate and timely, as part of the regulator's corporate plan for this financial year.
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August 20, 2026
Ovanti Plans To Sue Former US CEO Amid BNPL Collapse
Fintech firm Ovanti said it is preparing legal proceedings against the former CEO of its bankrupt US buy-now pay-later business, according to an Australian Securities Exchange statement on Thursday.
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August 20, 2026
Ex-Arrium CEO Rejects 'Blind Optimism' Claim In Class Trial
Former Arrium Ltd CEO Andrew Roberts rejected allegations on Thursday that he engaged in "blind optimism" regarding the mining and steelmaking company's future prospects ahead of its collapse, in his final day of testimony in a shareholder class action trial over allegedly misleading financial reports.
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August 20, 2026
White Oak Must Turn Over Greensill, Gupta WhatsApp Chats
The Federal Court of Australia has ordered private lender White Oak to hand over WhatsApp messages between its executives, Greensill founder Lex Greensill and British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta that insurers say covered transactions similar to those at the heart of the multibillion-dollar litigation over Greensill Capital's collapse.
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August 19, 2026
Super Trustees Bear Brunt Of Mulino's Compensation Reform
A new compensation scheme to be funded by trustees and overseen by APRA was announced today by Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino, while the government reins in payouts from the existing CSLR scheme, funded by financial advisers, brokers, securities dealers and loan and credit providers.
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August 19, 2026
Federal Court, UNSW To Probe Unrepresented Litigants
The Federal Court of Australia and the University of New South Wales announced plans on Wednesday to deliver a comprehensive, evidence-based examination of unrepresented litigants amid a swell in cases and AI use.
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August 19, 2026
AUSTRAC Operation Claw Finds Huge Sydney Mortgage Fraud
AUSTRAC has made over 200 referrals to law enforcement and regulatory agencies after the financial crime regulator's intelligence partner, Fintel Alliance, uncovered widespread suspected mortgage loan fraud worth hundreds of millions of dollars for properties, mostly in Sydney.
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August 19, 2026
REST Avoids Full Costs After Failing To Halt Airport Stake Sale
A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has ruled that REST Infrastructure Trust does not have to pay the full defendants' costs for its failed bid to halt the sale of its share of a roughly $4 billion Dexus-led stake in Melbourne and Launceston airports, saying the injunction request hadn't completely lacked merit.
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August 19, 2026
Master of the Rolls Says Embrace AI, Set Strategy On AI Harm
Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice in England and Wales, said lawyers and judges should embrace artificial intelligence to boost efficiency and access to justice, but argued for a clear strategy on how the legal system handles harms caused by AI use.
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August 19, 2026
Government Bans Super Cold Calls In 'Bad Actors' Crackdown
The federal government will ban unlicensed lead generators and allow superannuation funds to give advice as part of an overhaul of consumer protections across superannuation and financial services following the Shield and First Guardian collapses, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced on Wednesday.
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August 18, 2026
HSF Kramer Advising Equity Trustees On $658M TPG Bid
Equity Trustees, the superannuation trustee being sued by ASIC over alleged failures linked to the collapse of First Guardian and Shield, said it had received an unsolicited $658 million takeover bid from US private equity firm TPG Global and had appointed HSF Kramer as its legal adviser for the potential deal.
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August 18, 2026
Ex-DRA CEO Loses Bid For Privileged Takeover Emails
The former executive of a mining services company has lost his bid for access to correspondence involving shareholders who tried to take over the firm's board in 2022, despite a Federal Court judge saying he assumed the group had an "illegal purpose" in attempting to wrest control of more than 20% of its shares.
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August 18, 2026
CBUS Puts Death Benefit Nominations Online After ASIC Fine
One of Australia's largest super funds CBUS Super will allow members to make binding nominations for death benefits online from October 16, ending the paper-based process and other non-binding and lapsing offers, the fund said on Tuesday, amid regulator pressure for faster death claims handling.
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August 18, 2026
Arrium Class Say Ex-CEO Ignored 'Inconvenient' Predictions
A class of shareholders of collapsed steelmaker and miner Arrium Ltd. alleged at trial Tuesday that the company's former CEO Andrew Roberts willfully ignored pessimistic price predictions for iron ore prices when putting together allegedly misleading financial reports.
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August 18, 2026
APRA Tightens Bendigo Bank Licence Over Risk Failures
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will face tougher new licence conditions from APRA due to its "longstanding and pervasive weaknesses" in addressing non-financial risks and the failure of its remediation efforts, the regulator said in a statement on Tuesday.
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August 17, 2026
Bitcoin Backed By 'Nothing But Hope,' High Court Told
In the latest chapter of a potentially significant case over whether Bitcoin is considered property, counsel for the appellant has told the High Court of Australia that the cryptocurrency is backed by "nothing but hope" and cannot be possessed like a physical good.
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August 17, 2026
S&G Files 2nd James Hardie Class Action, Shine Plans 3rd
Slater & Gordon has filed a shareholder class action against James Hardie in the Victorian Supreme Court, the second alleging the building materials firm failed to disclose US problems in its forecasts, with a third from Shine Lawyers imminent, Law360 can reveal.
Struck-Off Lawyer Jailed For Holding Back Email Details
A Victorian Supreme Court judge has ordered former solicitor Joseph Guss to spend a week in jail after he refused to hand over email login details to a manager appointed to his practice following the cancellation of his practising certificate for several instances of professional misconduct.
Alleged Thief's Silk Tells High Court Bitcoin Is Not Property
Bitcoin is a concept or idea rather than property that can be stolen, counsel for a former Federal Police officer charged with the theft of $493,000 worth of Bitcoin has told the High Court of Australia, as part of an appeal over the legal status of the cryptocurrency.
Ex-KPMG Whistleblower Suit Targets Big Four Liability Caps
A small public-interest case listed for trial in NSW's Supreme Court next year could expose the Big Four accounting firms to larger damages bills, forcing them to take accountability for "negligent, deceptive or misleading" advice given to clients, according to the ex-KPMG whistleblower behind the action Brendan Lyon.
Struck-Off Lawyer Jailed For Holding Back Email Details
A Victorian Supreme Court judge has ordered former solicitor Joseph Guss to spend a week in jail after he refused to hand over email login details to a manager appointed to his practice following the cancellation of his practising certificate for several instances of professional misconduct.
Alleged Thief's Silk Tells High Court Bitcoin Is Not Property
Bitcoin is a concept or idea rather than property that can be stolen, counsel for a former Federal Police officer charged with the theft of $493,000 worth of Bitcoin has told the High Court of Australia, as part of an appeal over the legal status of the cryptocurrency.
Ex-KPMG Whistleblower Suit Targets Big Four Liability Caps
A small public-interest case listed for trial in NSW's Supreme Court next year could expose the Big Four accounting firms to larger damages bills, forcing them to take accountability for "negligent, deceptive or misleading" advice given to clients, according to the ex-KPMG whistleblower behind the action Brendan Lyon.
Editor's Picks
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Allens, Ashurst Stand By 'Unsatisfactory' KPMG Work
Allens and Ashurst Perkins Coie defended their legal advice and whistleblower investigations for KPMG Australia, despite senators at a parliamentary inquiry on Friday describing Ashurst's reports as "unsatisfactory" and Allens' work as "very poor."
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KPMG Legal Doc Release 'Extraordinary' But Waiver Implied
A parliamentary committee's decision to publicly release KPMG Australia's privileged legal documents on public interest grounds may be unprecedented and lacks a clear legal basis, experts say, though KPMG may have inadvertently waived privilege.
Expert Analysis
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How Australia's AML Reforms Widen Compliance Duty Remit
The most significant reform to Australia's anti-money laundering regime in two decades recently came into force, which not only fundamentally alters the compliance landscape for financial services providers, but also brings lawyers within the regulatory perimeter for the first time, say lawyers at Clifford Chance.
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How Cos. Can Rework AML Controls After AUSTRAC Warning
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre's recent risk snapshots on money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation risks underscore that with the convergence of artificial intelligence and real-time payment systems, Australia’s financial crime threats are becoming harder to detect through traditional means, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.
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Greenwashing Scrutiny Grows As Regulators Expand Focus
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission continue to penalize investment companies and superannuation trustees for misleading environmental claims, signalling that greenwashing enforcement is an intensifying feature of Australia's corporate accountability framework, say lawyers at Ashurst Perkins Coie.
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Practice Leader Insights From Phi Finney's Joel Phibbs
Joel Phibbs, Phi Finney's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing practice lead, discusses the approach of banks when dealing with compliance, the challenges of delays in getting cases to trial, and why financial bodies' regulatory burden and the desire to lower costs using artificial intelligence seem like a recipe for major problems in the future.
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APRA's Warning Letter Means Directors Must Grasp AI Risks
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A recent letter from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority outlines industry expectations for managing artificial intelligence-related risk, reminding boards and directors to work closely with their technology officers to ensure compliance with the regulator’s recommendations, says Claire Mallon at HWLE.
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Practice Leader Insights From HSF Kramer's Andrew Bradley
Andrew Bradley, leader of HSF Kramer's financial services regulatory practice in Australia, discusses managing mental health while working on a complex matter, the glaring need for further reform in the financial advice sector, and why this practice area may be the most dynamic and intellectually stimulating.
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Blue Star Shows Why Liquidators Need Approval Rule Reform
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.
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What ACCC Data Reveals About Finance Deals
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.
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Australian Payments Reg. Proposals Will Broaden Oversight
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.
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Australia's Computer Patent Ruling Will Aid Global Companies
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.
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Assessing The Significance Of Australia-EU's Free Trade Deal
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.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: ICSID Enforcement In Australia
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.