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Financial Services AU
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September 15, 2026
'Cautious Letting In' Of Women To Bar Persists, Justice Says
A High Court of Australia Justice has said that the "cautious letting in" of women persists at the bar as she called for greater diversity in the legal profession.
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September 15, 2026
ACCC Merger Rules Spur Early Deal Reviews: Holding Redlich
The ACCC's new merger rules are pushing businesses to consider potential regulatory issues much earlier in the deal process without slowing down transactions, according to a report by commercial law firm Holding Redlich.
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September 15, 2026
Pengana Asks Court To Halt WAM PIA Buyback Over Conflicts
Investment manager Pengana Capital said it is suing subsidiary Pengana International Equities Limited (PIA) over alleged conflicts of interest in a buyback scheme involving PIA's board and shareholder WAM Global arguing shareholders "will be materially worse off" in a NSW Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday.
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September 15, 2026
First Super Taps UWU Leader Tim Kennedy as New CEO
First Super says it has appointed United Workers Union national secretary and former LUCRF Super Chair Tim Kennedy as its new chief executive officer from October 5, according to a statement on Monday.
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September 14, 2026
Australia's First Female High Court Justice Mary Gaudron Dies
Justice Mary Gaudron KC, the first female High Court Justice who ruled on the landmark Mabo case, has died at the age of 83, the court has announced.
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September 14, 2026
EY Hit With Fair Work Lawsuit By Ex-Oceania Tech Leader
A former Ernst & Young Oceania technology leader has filed a Fair Work claim against the professional services company in the Federal Court in Sydney, alleging unfair dismissal.
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September 14, 2026
Ashurst Adds HSF Kramer Lawyer To Private Capital Team
Ashurst Perkins Coie has lured Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer special counsel Ben Plotnik as a Melbourne-based partner in its corporate practice team.
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September 14, 2026
ACCC Makes Realestate.com Scrap Agent All-In Listing Rule
REA Group, owner of Australia's largest online residential real estate listing portal realestate.com.au, has agreed to remove contract restrictions requiring agencies to list all or most of their properties on the platform as part of court-enforceable undertaking by the ACCC over competition concerns.
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September 14, 2026
McPherson's, Ex-CEO Appeal Misleading Investors Finding
Skincare company McPherson's Ltd has filed for leave to appeal a Federal Court ruling that the company misled investors over late disclosure of sales forecasts and that its former CEO breached his duty of care.
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September 11, 2026
ASIC Moves To Block Lawyers, Media From Director Details
ASIC on Friday said it was considering changes to the agency's company register, seeking to provide additional public data for free, while proposing to block access to "sensitive" information about company directors, such as their dates of birth, from lawyers and journalists.
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September 11, 2026
Parliament Requires Court Orders To Void Unnotified Mergers
Mergers that fail regulatory notification requirements will no longer be automatically voided under new rules passed by Parliament on Thursday, with the ACCC required to first obtain Federal Court approval to cancel the transactions.
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September 11, 2026
Tabcorp's $1.4B Tax Deduction Appeal Rejected By High Court
The High Court of Australia has rejected Tabcorp's application for special leave to appeal a ruling that denied it a $1.49 billion tax deduction over alleged entitlements linked to the termination of gaming licenses in Victoria, based on there being "no financial arrangement" at the time the licenses expired.
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September 11, 2026
High Court Won't Hear Former NAB Employee's Appeal
The High Court of Australia has dismissed an appeal from a former NAB employee over a decision that the federal Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act precluded her from pursuing a claim against the bank under Victoria's Wrongs Act.
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September 11, 2026
Johnson Winter Slattery Opens NY Office For US Investors
Australian commercial law firm Johnson Winter Slattery has opened its first overseas office in New York in a bid to help US clients gain regulatory approvals to invest in Australia.
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September 10, 2026
Victorian Criminal Bar Rebuts 'Wrong Judges' Critique
The Criminal Bar Association of Victoria is defending the state's judges and magistrates after an opinion piece by former Victorian Chief Crown Prosecutor Gavin Silbert KC criticised the state's judicial appointments and warned against election-driven "law-and-order promises".
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September 10, 2026
Equity Trustees Exec Blames Super Losses On 'Other Parties'
The executive director of Equity Trustees told a parliamentary joint committee on Thursday that the firm has not compensated investors for their losses in the collapsed First Guardian and Shield funds because "other parties are responsible."
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September 10, 2026
ART Upholds ASIC Five-Year Bans On Flawed Super Advice
The Administrative Review Tribunal upheld the five-year bans ASIC gave to financial advisers Andrew Hanley and Shane Monte Silva, holding the pair engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by telling clients to invest their superannuation in the now-collapsed Shield and First Guardian funds even though they knew the advice to be flawed.
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September 10, 2026
Maurice Blackburn Plans Rival Corporate Travel, PwC Suit
Maurice Blackburn is investigating a class action proposal alleging misconduct by Corporate Travel Management and its former auditor PwC Australia, setting up a potential carriage dispute with Phi Finney McDonald.
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September 10, 2026
Shield Auditor BDO Resists Audit Info Access Request
BDO, auditor of the now-collapsed Shield Master Fund, pushed back Thursday against a bid for lawyers representing liquidators for the fund's trustee to access documents related to BDO's audit procedures, saying the liquidators hadn't proposed sufficient safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the documents.
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September 10, 2026
KPMG Procurement Ban Extended To End Of October
The Department of Finance has extended the current ban on KPMG Australia bidding for government contracts until the end of October as the deadline for the government's review of the auditing giant's governance, culture, ethics and integrity frameworks is pushed back.
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September 09, 2026
Judge Waivers On ASIC, AusSuper $30M Death Benefit Deal
ASIC and AustralianSuper have agreed to a $30 million penalty to resolve allegations the super fund breached its legal duties though not deliberately by delaying thousands of death benefit claims, with a Federal Court judge seeking further details on management oversight before approving the deal.
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September 09, 2026
Andrew Clements KC Appointed To Victorian Supreme Court
Andrew Clements KC has been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria sitting in the common law division, which hears matters concerning property, tort, contract law, wills and estates, and appeals from lower courts and tribunals, the court announced on Tuesday.
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September 09, 2026
Westpac Says KPMG Withheld Allens Reports Over Privilege
Westpac has revealed KPMG initially refused to provide Allens' investigation reports into the auditor's whistleblower scandal, citing legal professional privilege, before later handing over partially-redacted versions.
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September 09, 2026
Justice Muston Says Bar Has 'Stubborn' Diversity Problem
The Supreme Court of NSW Justice Edward Muston has advocated for the Australian legal profession, particularly the bar, to better represent the community it serves by giving opportunities across the board given limited diversity is "a particularly stubborn problem."
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September 08, 2026
Choosi Misled Customers On Insurance Price Comparisons
A Federal Court judge on Tuesday backed ASIC's allegations that insurance comparison site Choosi misled customers by saying it compared life and funeral insurance products from a range of insurers, when it was two insurers at most.
Super Investors Lash 'Concerning' ASX Board Gender Target
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has called the Australian Securities Exchange's draft corporate governance plan, which targets 30% female board representation, as insufficient and "concerning."
CBA Appoints New Chief Of NZ Subsidiary ASB Bank
The Commonwealth Bank has appointed Sinead Taylor as the new chief executive officer and managing director of New Zealand subsidiary ASB Bank Limited, replacing Vittoria Shortt who will step down in December after almost nine years in the role.
High Court Takes Super Trustee Commission Fee Class Action
The High Court on Thursday agreed to hear an appeal over a decision dismissing a class action accusing former NAB unit NULIS Nominees, as trustee for the MLC Super Fund, of wrongly continuing to charge fund members for trailing commissions to advisers after a fund transfer.
Super Investors Lash 'Concerning' ASX Board Gender Target
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has called the Australian Securities Exchange's draft corporate governance plan, which targets 30% female board representation, as insufficient and "concerning."
CBA Appoints New Chief Of NZ Subsidiary ASB Bank
The Commonwealth Bank has appointed Sinead Taylor as the new chief executive officer and managing director of New Zealand subsidiary ASB Bank Limited, replacing Vittoria Shortt who will step down in December after almost nine years in the role.
High Court Takes Super Trustee Commission Fee Class Action
The High Court on Thursday agreed to hear an appeal over a decision dismissing a class action accusing former NAB unit NULIS Nominees, as trustee for the MLC Super Fund, of wrongly continuing to charge fund members for trailing commissions to advisers after a fund transfer.
Editor's Picks
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High Court Takes Super Trustee Commission Fee Class Action
The High Court on Thursday agreed to hear an appeal over a decision dismissing a class action accusing former NAB unit NULIS Nominees, as trustee for the MLC Super Fund, of wrongly continuing to charge fund members for trailing commissions to advisers after a fund transfer.
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HSF Chair Says ASIC Over-Regulation Pushing Directors Away
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Chair and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage has struck out at ASIC for excessive regulation arguing Australian-listed company directors want to move to private firms as they feel "the ever-growing burden" of over-regulation alongside securities class action threats, in a Bathurst Lecture speech on Thursday evening.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.