US Coverage

Law360 Authority | Deep News & Analysis

Global Coverage

Law360 Pulse | The Business of Law

Mealeys

MLex

Newsletter RSS

Financial Services AU

    A close-up of a gavel and cash.

    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.

    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.

    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 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

    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.

  • July 01, 2026

    Australia Ties Director IDs To ASIC Records To Curb Fraud

    Director identification numbers will be linked to the ASIC companies register from July next year, making it easier to trace directors across companies in a bid to curb fraud.

  • June 30, 2026

    ASIC To Probe Guardrails For Digital Assets, AI in Banking

    ASIC is considering guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence in trading and tokenised assets like cryptocurrency during discussions with financial services leaders on Tuesday.

  • June 30, 2026

    Ex-EY Grad Charged Over Alleged Access to PM's Bank Data

    Two men, including a former Ernst & Young graduate employee who was working on assignment at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, faced criminal charges in Sydney on Tuesday over their alleged access of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's personal banking data.

  • June 30, 2026

    Government Urges Probe on Visa-Mastercard, Apple Pay Grip

    A federal government inquiry has recommended the ACCC investigate the impact of the duopoly of Visa and Mastercard on small businesses and consumers, and the dominance of Apple Pay including possible regulatory intervention to open up its secure payments technology without forcing developers to enter into commercial deals.

  • June 30, 2026

    Senator O'Neill Pushes KPMG To Release Whistleblower Docs

    Labor Senator Deborah O'Neill urged KPMG Australia on Monday to publicly release documents provided to Parliament regarding the firm's whistleblower scandal, as Greens Senator Barbara Pocock pressed the government to cancel a $1.3 million KPMG ethics training contract she said didn't pass the "pub test."

  • June 29, 2026

    Judge Allows 'Bad in Law' IAG Class Action Amendment

    A Victorian Supreme Court judge has allowed a "bad in law" amendment on market-based causation to be included in a shareholder class action case against Insurance Australia Group Ltd on Monday despite the insurer's complaints it should not be permitted.

  • June 29, 2026

    Judge Approves $10.3M Mercer Super Fine For Reporting Fails

    The Federal Court has approved a $10.3m penalty against Mercer Super for failures alerting ASIC to investigations into several issues, including charging insurance premiums after a member's death and failures to provide death and permanent disability insurance cover for eligible members.

  • June 29, 2026

    ASIC Warns Super Trustees Over 'Persistent Failures'

    ASIC has fired a warning shot at Australia's superannuation trustees alleging "stark and persistent failures" including gaps in advice fee controls, insufficient focus on lead generators and inadequate monitoring of high-risk activities like member churn and unusual fund flows.

  • June 29, 2026

    HMC Capital Taps $1.3B In Private Credit For Real Estate Debt

    Asset manager HMC Capital Limited says it has secured $1.35 billion in private credit agreements to be invested into Australian commercial real estate loans, according to an Australian stock exchange statement on Monday.

  • June 26, 2026

    ASIC Sues Ex-Keystone Directors On Shield Super Conflicts

    ASIC said it is suing three directors of Keystone Asset Management in the Federal Court for breach of director duties including "conflicted arrangements and poor oversight" over the $530 million of superannuation invested into the collapsed Shield Master Fund that Keystone operated and managed.

  • June 26, 2026

    RBA To Probe Online Payments, Mobile Wallets, BNPL Rules

    The Reserve Bank of Australia says it is reviewing payments system regulation amid a surge in adoption of mobile wallets like Apple Pay, account-to-account payments, buy-now pay-later and AI agents initiating payments in e-commerce, according to a statement on Thursday.

  • June 26, 2026

    ASIC Gives Crypto Firms Longer To Secure Financial Licences

    ASIC said on Thursday digital asset firms offering financial services like crypto derivatives have an extra three months to comply with rules requiring them to apply for or change an existing Australian financial services licence.

  • June 25, 2026

    Shine Taps AI Strategy Chief, Names Class Action Leader

    Shine Lawyers has appointed Peter Gibson to lead its legal technology and stakeholder strategies in a newly-created national role as it targets ethical artificial intelligence adoption, the law firm said on Wednesday.

  • June 25, 2026

    Gilbert + Tobin Elevates 7 Partners, 9 Special Counsel

    Gilbert + Tobin, one of Australia's largest law firms, announced seven new partners and nine special counsel to start at the firm's Sydney, Melbourne and Perth offices from July 1, in a statement today.

  • June 25, 2026

    APRA Eyes Diversa Exec Bonuses On First Guardian Collapse

    APRA is investigating the management bonuses and pay of embattled superannuation trustee Diversa Trustees, the regulator said on Thursday, whose CEO Andrew Peterson took home more than half-a-million dollars in bonuses at the same time as members lost hundreds of millions investing in the collapsed First Guardian Master fund on Diversa's platform.

  • June 25, 2026

    ACCC Sues Credit Clear On Alleged Misleading Debt Notices

    The ACCC is suing two subsidiaries of debt collection service provider Credit Clear Limited in the Federal Court over 320,000 debt collection notices the regulator alleges were misleading to consumers by falsely claiming they owed debts already paid, or owed beyond the statutory time limit.

Expert Analysis

  • What ACCC Data Reveals About Finance Deals

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.