Financial Services AU
-
October 02, 2026
SA Taps Ex-Federal Court Judge For AI Royal Commission
A former Federal Court Justice has been appointed to lead the South Australian Royal Commission into Artificial Intelligence that will evaluate how South Australians can maximise the benefits of the technology while managing potential risks.
-
October 02, 2026
Guarantors Ordered To Pay $16M Over Missing Gold Bars
The NSW Supreme Court has ordered two guarantors to pay investment group THN Capital $19.8 million for breaching an irrevocable authority deed they claimed depended on selling missing gold bars worth millions of dollars.
-
October 02, 2026
Pinsent Masons Elects Property Leader As Managing Partner
Pinsent Masons LLP said Wednesday that it has tapped the global head of the firm's property group to become its next managing partner, marking its second major leadership appointment at the firm.
-
October 02, 2026
PwC Australia Buys Advancy To Bolster Private Equity Advice
PwC Australia has acquired Advancy Australia, a smaller strategy consulting firm that specialises in mergers and acquisitions and private equity, the consulting giant announced on Thursday.
-
October 02, 2026
CPA Australia Elects McRae President, Adds 2 Directors
Accounting body CPA Australia has elected deputy president Warren McRae as its new president and chair and named two deputy presidents and two new board members.
-
October 02, 2026
HSF Kramer-Led Foresight Closes $530M Kondinin Wind Deal
UK investment manager Foresight has secured financing for the 130MW first stage of Western Australia's Kondinin Wind Farm and acquired full ownership of the broader Kondinin Energy project, with HSF Kramer advising.
-
October 02, 2026
ASIC Lifts Stop Orders On Remara Private Credit On Amends
ASIC has revoked its interim stop orders against three private credit products offered under Melbourne Securities Corporation's (MSC) Remara Cash Management Fund, after MSC amended its target market determinations.
-
October 01, 2026
RBA Says Financial System 'Good Degree of Resilience'
The Reserve Bank of Australia says Australia's financial system has a "good degree of resilience" but remains vulnerable to global and operational shocks, in its latest financial stability review on Thursday.
-
October 02, 2026
HSF Kramer-Led Maas Completes $1.7B Construction Sale
Diversified industrial group Maas Group has completed the $1.7 billion sale of its construction materials business to Heidelberg Materials Australia, Maas told the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday.
-
October 01, 2026
ASIC Raises Licence-Free Financial Market Limit to $2.5M
ASIC said Thursday that it has raised the annual transaction-value threshold for its exemption allowing small financial markets with limited trading activity to operate without an Australian market licence from $1.5 million to $2.5 million.
-
October 01, 2026
Hall & Wilcox Nabs HWL Ebsworth Partner For Cyber Practice
HWL Ebsworth's Zoe Tishler has joined Hall & Wilcox as a partner of the law firm's cyber practice in Sydney, Hall & Wilcox said in a statement on Tuesday.
-
October 01, 2026
APRA Proposes Tougher Rules for Super Trustees
APRA has proposed eight changes to superannuation investment governance, including limits on members' exposure to higher-risk investments and stronger requirements for trustees to manage conflicts and oversee increasingly complex investment menus.
-
October 01, 2026
Mallesons, Allens Guide Lynas' $968M Meteoric Deal
Mining company Lynas Rare Earths has agreed to acquire Meteoric Resources in an all-scrip deal valuing the Perth-based company at about $968 million, with Mallesons advising Lynas on the transaction.
-
October 01, 2026
G+T-Led Yancoal Completes Kestrel Mine Acquisition
Coal producer Yancoal Australia has completed its acquisition of an 80% interest in Queensland's Kestrel Coal Mine for US$1.85 billion upfront and up to US$550 million in contingent payments, Yancoal told the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday.
-
October 01, 2026
AUSTRAC Fines Firms That Failed To Join AML Regime
AUSTRAC has issued fines to real estate, accounting and jewellery businesses that failed to enrol under the newly expanded anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime.
-
October 01, 2026
Macquarie Shield Class Action Ends Amid Funding Shortfall
The Federal Court of Australia has approved the discontinuance of a class action against Macquarie Bank filed over its alleged failure to regulate investments at collapsed Shield Master Fund, citing a lack of funding and little prospect of establishing substantial losses.
-
October 01, 2026
Nuvei Wins $1.95M Escrow Fight Over Till Tax Liability
A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has ruled that payment provider Nuvei is owed just under $2 million that was held in an escrow account in a dispute over potential tax liability stemming from convertible notes issued by Till when the fintech was sold to the payments company in 2023.
-
October 01, 2026
Norton Rose Fulbright Guides Stanmore's US$450M Debt Facilities
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised metallurgical coal producer Stanmore Resources on the US$450 million (AU$646 million) refinancing of its bank debt facilities, the global law firm announced in a statement on Tuesday.
-
September 30, 2026
Developer Gets 9 Years For $2.2M Investor Fund Fraud
A former Queensland property developer was sentenced to nine years in prison on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to fraud involving more than $2.2 million of investor funds intended for five property developments.
-
September 30, 2026
NSW Committee Says PEXA, Banks Blocked Competition
A New South Wales parliamentary committee has found that property settlement platform PEXA harmed competition by deliberately delaying reforms that would let electronic conveyancing providers transact with one another.
-
September 30, 2026
ASIC Targets Banks' AI Use, Super Advice Fees In Priority List
ASIC will review banks' customer-facing use of AI, super funds' handling of advice fee deductions and insurance claims firms known as "disaster chasers" under supervisory priorities released on Wednesday.
-
September 30, 2026
Mallesons Special Counsel Joins IP Specialist Griffith Hack
Former Mallesons special counsel James Robb has joined intellectual property firm Griffith Hack as a principal and practice group leader of its law & trade marks practice, according to a statement from Griffith Hack's parent group IPH Limited, an ASX-listed intellectual property services group on Wednesday.
-
September 30, 2026
ANZ Launches European Banking Subsidiary
ANZ opened its new European banking subsidiary on Tuesday, expanding its presence in the region after securing regulatory approval earlier this year, the bank said in a statement.
-
September 30, 2026
Justice Emerton To Lead Victoria's First Sentencing Review
Former Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria President Justice Karin Emerton will conduct the first independent review into the state's sentencing legislation since it took effect in 1992, Victorian Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny announced on Tuesday.
-
September 30, 2026
Justice Nichols Joins Victorian Court of Appeal
Supreme Court of Victoria Justice Lisa Nichols has been appointed to the Victorian Court of Appeal, the court said in a statement on Tuesday, adding Megan O'Sullivan KC will replace Nichols in the Victorian Supreme Court.
CA ANZ Wants Ethics Update at KPMG, Finds No Major Flaws
Chartered Accountants Australia has recommended KPMG Australia appoint an independent chief ethics officer, set clearer rules for using external investigators for misconduct allegations and strengthen controls on using confidential audit-client information to pursue other work, in its review of the confidentiality controls and ethical culture prompted by the whistleblower scandal.
ANZ Dumps Auditor KPMG Australia After Over 5 Decades
ANZ says it will tender its external audit contract and exclude KPMG, who has held the major Australian bank's external audit contract since 1969 and been engulfed in a whistleblower scandal since March, as the tenure length is "no longer considered appropriate."
Blue Sky Class Must Post $630k Costs To Credit Suisse, Oasis
A Queensland Supreme Court judge has ordered the plaintiff in a shareholder class action alleging insider trading of stock in former ASX-listed firm Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd to front up $630,000 in cost securities to the defendants including broker Credit Suisse Equities, hedge fund Oasis Management and its owner Seth Fischer, and directors of a research group who wrote a report downgrading the value of the now-liquidated company.
CA ANZ Wants Ethics Update at KPMG, Finds No Major Flaws
Chartered Accountants Australia has recommended KPMG Australia appoint an independent chief ethics officer, set clearer rules for using external investigators for misconduct allegations and strengthen controls on using confidential audit-client information to pursue other work, in its review of the confidentiality controls and ethical culture prompted by the whistleblower scandal.
ANZ Dumps Auditor KPMG Australia After Over 5 Decades
ANZ says it will tender its external audit contract and exclude KPMG, who has held the major Australian bank's external audit contract since 1969 and been engulfed in a whistleblower scandal since March, as the tenure length is "no longer considered appropriate."
Blue Sky Class Must Post $630k Costs To Credit Suisse, Oasis
A Queensland Supreme Court judge has ordered the plaintiff in a shareholder class action alleging insider trading of stock in former ASX-listed firm Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd to front up $630,000 in cost securities to the defendants including broker Credit Suisse Equities, hedge fund Oasis Management and its owner Seth Fischer, and directors of a research group who wrote a report downgrading the value of the now-liquidated company.
Editor's Picks
-
IAG Settles $2.8B Greensill Claims With Credit Suisse
Trade insurance claims worth billions of dollars linked to the Greensill Capital collapse will go untested in the Federal Court of Australia as insurance giant Insurance Australia Group confirmed a settlement Friday in its stoush with UBS-owned Credit Suisse.
-
KPMG Faulted For 'Overly Legalistic' Whistleblower Response
KPMG Australia took an "overly legalistic" approach to the whistleblower, failed to support them and placed too much emphasis on workplace grievances rather than the ethical issues, according to a review by strategic consulting firm The Andrews Group commissioned by KPMG and released on Thursday.
Expert Analysis
-
What To Know About ASX Listing Reform, Enforcement Plans
The Australian Securities Exchange’s forthcoming proposed listing rule reforms and enforcement priorities represent a measured evolution in shareholder oversight in public markets, and heightened investor expectations for transparency and participation in corporate decisions, say lawyers at Addisons.
-
ASIC Win Broadens View Of Fixed-Yield Crypto Products
The High Court of Australia's recent landmark ruling in Australian Securities and Investments Commission v. Web3 Ventures, determining that fixed-yield cryptocurrency products are financial products, endorses an expansive approach to federal law that suggests purposive readings of existing statutes will be favoured over a wait-and-see approach to novel technology, say lawyers at Hall & Wilcox.
-
Practice Leader Insights
Practice group leaders share thoughts on keeping the pulse on legal trends, tackling difficult cases and what it takes to make a mark in their area in this Law360 Australia Expert Analysis series.
-
Practice Leader Insights From Norton Rose's Tim Mornane
Tim Mornane, Norton Rose's banking and finance team leader, discusses the challenges of working on contract works insurance policies in real estate development matters, the need for a legislative framework for handling insolvent trusts, and the professional teaching and mentoring hurdles that may arise due to artificial intelligence use.
-
Gov't Reforms Should Ease Decisions On Foreign Investment
The government’s recently announced reforms to strengthen its Foreign Investment Review Board framework represent a genuine shift in the regime, streamlining the process for low-risk investments, while equipping the regulator with stronger tools to address those that are medium- and high-risk, says Jeremy Low at Allens.
-
Star Ruling Highlights Corporate Governance Hazards
In the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's case against former Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier, the Federal Court held several executives liable for money laundering violations, demonstrating what happens when governance systems that appear adequate on paper fail to deliver critical information to decision-makers, say lawyers at Piper Alderman.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
APRA's Warning Letter Means Directors Must Grasp AI Risks
.png)
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.
-
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.
-
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.