Financial Services AU

  • July 28, 2026

    ASIC Wins Record $55M Fines For Harvey Norman, Latitude

    Harvey Norman and Latitude Finance have been ordered to pay a combined $55 million in fines by the Federal Court of Australia after advertising a misleading "60 months interest free" payment method without disclosing that it required customers to take out a credit card and pay ongoing account fees.

  • July 28, 2026

    Victoria Bar Sets Requiem Mass For Late Justice Santamaria

    Requiem Mass for former Justice Joseph Santamaria, who served on Victoria's Court of Appeal from 2013 until his retirement in 2018, will be held in Melbourne on Friday, the Victorian Bar announced on Tuesday. 

  • July 27, 2026

    Credit Suisse Wins Privilege Fight Over Greensill Report

    Compliance with financial regulators does not necessarily entail a waiver of legal professional privilege, the Federal Court of Australia on Monday has ruled after Credit Suisse bid to stop insurance broker Marsh from accessing an internal report over the Swiss bank's management and involvement with collapsed supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital.

  • July 27, 2026

    ClearView Shareholders Approve $415M Zurich Takeover

    ClearView shareholders overwhelmingly approved the insurer's $415 million acquisition by Zurich Financial Services in a meeting on Monday after the company's board unanimously endorsed the deal.

  • July 27, 2026

    EQT Lifts Perpetual Bid To $2.6B After Two Rejected Offers

    Perpetual has received a new $2.6 billion takeover bid from private equity firm EQT after rejecting two lower offers as insufficient earlier this month, the asset manager said on Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    KPMG Barred From Work With Victorian Govt As Partner Fired

    KPMG has agreed to stop bidding for Victorian government contracts until September, days after the audit firm said new CEO John Sams fired a partner following new evidence by law firms Allens into the whistleblower allegations.

  • July 27, 2026

    Treasury To Extend Add-On Insurance Exemptions For 5 Years

    Treasury is seeking to extend exemptions from cooling-off periods for home and vehicle add-on insurance for another five years because of their high value to consumers, according to draft regulations released on Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    NSW Chief Justice Flags Stress on Judges Mounting Caseload

    New South Wales Chief Justice Andrew Bell has raised concerns about the volume of work judges face, describing it as the "single greatest source of stress and pressure on the judiciary" and highlighted the need for proper resourcing of judicial officers and courtrooms.

  • July 24, 2026

    REST Denied Injunction On Sale Of Dexus-Led Airport Stake

    A New South Wales Supreme Court judge on Friday refused REST Infrastructure Trust's bid for an injunction against the sale of its portion of a roughly $4 billion Dexus-led stake in Melbourne and Launceston airports pending appeal, after REST refused to take responsibility for all related damages if the appeals failed.

  • July 24, 2026

    Federal Court Refuses Mayfair101 Bid To Reopen $30M Case

    James Mawhinney, who has been banned from offering financial products for 15 years, and his Mayfair 101 companies have failed in their bid to reopen the case that found they misled investors by falsely advertising high-risk products, leaving the $30 million penalty intact.

  • July 24, 2026

    Banks Warned Not To Blame Code Breaches On Staff Errors

    The independent body that oversees the Banking Code of Practice has warned the industry to not use staff error as an excuse for breaches, urging banks to issue clearer rules for how superiors should review and approve employees' work.

  • July 24, 2026

    Ex-Director Gets 18 Months For $1.2M Gambling Theft

    The NSW District Court sentenced steel supplier director Vickie Anne Vella to 18 months' imprisonment on Thursday after she withdrew over $1.2 million from the firm to gamble.

  • July 24, 2026

    AG Can Order Review Of Super Split When Couples Separate

    The Attorney-General can now order superannuation trustees to review valuation methods used to divide super between married and de facto couples upon separation in family law settlements, under new regulations registered on Wednesday.

  • July 24, 2026

    SA Court Refuses Bid To Move Bank Dispute To Lebanon

    A South Australian Supreme Court judge has rejected a Lebanese bank's bid to stay or dismiss a case alleging Bank Audi wrongly refused to transfer roughly $6.9 million to an Australian man after he had closed his accounts, saying the matter could be pursued in South Australia.

  • July 23, 2026

    Albanese Plans Fair Work Court To Speed Up Labour Disputes

    The Albanese government is planning a new federal Fair Work Court staffed by specialist judges to speed up dispute resolution, it said on Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    ASIC Eyes Simpler Sell-Side Research Rules For IPO Access

    ASIC on Thursday proposed to simplify its guidance for how sell-side researchers help clients make investment decisions about initial public offerings and other capital raising, after industry feedback called for less prescriptive guidance to their investment research.

  • July 23, 2026

    Ex-Coinshype Exec Gets Suspended Sentence In Scam Case

    A former financial director of Coinshype, and brother of Australian Olympic breakdancer Raygun, was handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence for dealing with $180,000 in funds from a suspected cryptocurrency scam, ASIC said on Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    Macquarie Orders Allens Review Of KPMG Tender, CEO To Exit

    Macquarie Group has commissioned an external review by Allens into the integrity of the tender process for the appointment of incoming auditor KPMG, Chair Glenn Stevens announced at the bank's annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    Caddick Estate Wound Up As Ponzi Investors Recoup $9M

    The estate of the late convicted fraudster Melissa Caddick has been wound up in the Federal Court of Australia, bringing to an end the six-year case after investors in the Ponzi scheme she set up recovered $9 million in dividends from her estate and business.

  • July 22, 2026

    ASIC Probes Mortgage Brokers' Duty To Put Clients First

    ASIC is conducting a review of the mortgage broking sector focused on the best interests duty of brokers, according to a speech by Commissioner Alan Kirkland in Melbourne on Wednesday.

  • July 22, 2026

    Judge Says Broker Needs Counsel In Market Abuse Case

    A Federal Court judge in Perth ruled on Wednesday that the director of an insurance broker suing broker network Steadfast Group and insurers QBE and Allianz, alleging they abused their market power by cutting the broker out of their networks, cannot represent her company in the case.

  • July 22, 2026

    ASIC Flags Auditors' Legal, Ethical Duties Amid KPMG Scandal

    ASIC has reminded registered company auditors "of their legal, ethical and professional obligations" amid concerns about low public trust and confidence in the sector, according to a letter from Commissioner Kate O'Rourke to auditors on Wednesday.

  • July 22, 2026

    Federal Court Finds Noumi Ex-CEO Liable On Rotten Stock

    The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that Rory Macleod, the former CEO and director of dairy and plant-based food company Noumi, formerly Freedom Foods Group (FFG), contravened some of his obligations in a case brought by ASIC over the company's failure to disclose millions of dollars in wasted stock, but the regulator failed to prove others.

  • July 22, 2026

    Sequoia CEO Steps Down Amid ASIC Suit

    Sequoia Financial Group CEO Garry Crole will step down immediately, the company said on Wednesday, amid ASIC's lawsuit over Sequoia subsidiary Interprac's alleged failure to oversee representatives who steered customers to the now-collapsed Shield and First Guardian master funds.

  • July 22, 2026

    Investment Advisor Is No-Show In $7M Airport Loan Dispute

    An investment advisor accused of misleading and deceptive conduct by failing to repay a $7 million loan granted over a 10-day period to fund a purported new Melbourne airport has been a no-show in the Federal Court of Australia.

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