Quality of Advice Review – Final Report

On 8 February 2023, the Quality of Advice Review final report was published by the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, the Hon Stephen Jones MP, outlining Michelle Levy’s findings. The Quality of Advice Review was initiated due to the complexity of the regulatory framework of financial advice, making it difficult to understand and […]

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ASIC’s Enforcement Focus – Greenwashing, Predatory Lending & Misleading Insurance Pricing Promises

In a recent media release on 15 February 2023, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has warned businesses that it will actively target greenwashing, predatory lending and misleading insurance pricing promises in the coming year. The warning follows ASIC’s release of its ‘Enforcement Priorities’ report.[1] ASIC intends to establish these yearly priorities as a […]

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ASIC commences its first greenwashing court proceeding

On 28 February 2023, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) released an announcement stating that it has launched its first proceeding in the Federal Court against Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Ltd (Mercer) for allegedly ‘making misleading statements regarding the sustainable nature of some of its superannuation investment options’. Greenwashing has become a growing concern, as […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 20 March 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 13 March 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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Regulatory action for greenwashing is upon us

Last week, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commenced civil penalty proceedings for alleged greenwashing against Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited (Mercer). This is in addition to ASIC having issued penalty notices to at least four companies for alleged greenwashing, since October 2022. Last year, ASIC identified investigating greenwashing and taking enforcement action where greenwashing […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 6 March 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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Pooling order for the win!

On 2 March 2023 the Supreme Court of Victoria published its reasons in the matter of Atlas Gaming Holdings Pty Ltd [2023] VSC 91 (the Atlas case) in which Gadens acted on behalf of the Liquidator of four companies seeking a pooling order pursuant to section 579E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act). […]

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Penalties for consumer law breaches on the rise: Federal Court finds Employsure penalty ‘manifestly inadequate’

The recent Employsure decision makes it very clear that penalties for breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), particularly where those breaches occur online, cannot be considered a ‘cost of doing business’ by companies assessing risks around particular conduct or the adequacy of their compliance program. The Full Federal Court, on an appeal brought by […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 27 February 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 20 February 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap — Monday, 13 February 2023

Keeping on top of the latest financial services regulatory & compliance trends? Investing time in your professional development within a rapidly changing financial services industry is challenging. To meet that challenge, the Australian Regulators Weekly Wrap is designed to keep you at forefront of your practice by quickly setting out the top 5 developments from the past […]

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