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Financial Services AU
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July 14, 2026
APRA Grants Taipei Fubon Bank Licence For Australia
APRA has granted Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co. Ltd a licence to operate as a foreign authorised deposit-taking institution, it said on Tuesday, allowing the Taiwanese bank to offer wholesale operations in Australia.
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July 13, 2026
ASIC Levies Rise As Regulator Recoup 19% Higher Costs
Deposit-taking institutions and payment processing firms will face much higher levies for the 2025-2026 financial year as ASIC seeks to recover an estimated 19% increase in costs, the regulator said in a statement on Monday.
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July 13, 2026
Federal Court Lifts ASIC's Travel Ban On Ferras Merhi
A Federal Court judge in Melbourne has allowed a former financial adviser linked to the collapsed Shield and First Guardian Master Funds to travel to the Middle East, saying ASIC hadn't justified keeping a travel ban in place.
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July 13, 2026
Victorian Judge Referred Over Counsel Integrity Comments
Victorian County Court Judge Michael Tinney has been referred to Chief Judge Amanda Chambers after the state's Judicial Commission found he had made critical comments concerning counsel's professional integrity and competence, though it ruled out judicial bullying, according to a statement on Friday.
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July 13, 2026
Union Says CBA Used 'Fake' Redundancies To Offshore Jobs
The Finance Sector Union has filed a formal dispute with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia seeking detailed information from the bank about alleged "fake redundancies" the union says were used as an excuse to move nearly 300 jobs from Australia to India.
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July 10, 2026
Ex-Solicitor Loses Ninth Bid To Regain Practising Certificate
A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has tossed lawyer and former migration agent Chanaka Senanayake's challenge to the Law Society of NSW over its decision — for a ninth time — not to renew his practising certificate.
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July 10, 2026
Swyftx Financial License To Push Crypto Payment Service
ASIC has granted cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx an Australian financial services licence, paving the way for the company to offer cryptocurrency payment services for retail businesses.
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July 09, 2026
Aussie Brokers Didn't Make Personalized Pitches: Insurer
An insurer has pushed back against a class of Aussie Home Loan customers' claims that it trained mortgage brokers to offer inappropriate personalized financial advice regarding its mortgage protection insurance, saying in Federal Court on Thursday that its training and selling system was clearly based around a generalized advice model.
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July 09, 2026
Ex-ANZ Trader Loses Bid To Unredact Privileged Bank Docs
A Federal Court judge has dismissed former ANZ banker Etienne Alexiou's bid to force the bank to produce unredacted documents in his employment dispute, finding ANZ had validly claimed legal advice privilege, in a judgment published on Thursday.
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July 09, 2026
Magellan Standstill Fueled Bolton's $4.3M Bonus, Court Told
Investor Nicholas Bolton's personal signing of a standstill agreement ending his activism against the Magellan Global Fund was of "critical importance" to the $17.8 million options deal and million-dollar bonus paid by Keybridge Capital, the Federal Court has heard.
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July 08, 2026
Class Says Aussie Broker Framed Low-Value Insurance As Advice
An insurer who allegedly sold low-value, inappropriate mortgage protection insurance to Aussie Home Loan customers can't hide behind claims that it was only offering general advice, a class representative told a Federal Court judge in Melbourne on Wednesday.
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July 08, 2026
Keybridge Board Accused Of 'Culture Of Award' By Investor
The former board of investment firm Keybridge Capital has been accused of a "culture of award" in approving a "huge, extraordinary" payment to managing director and investor Nicholas Bolton, investors alleged in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.
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July 08, 2026
NSW Attorney General Has 'Full Confidence' In DPP Dowling
NSW Attorney General Michael Daley will not follow up on a state parliamentary committee's recommendations to formally investigate whether Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC should be removed from office, saying he has "full confidence" in her, in a statement on Wednesday.
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July 08, 2026
Court Says Clive Palmer's Claims Against Ex-ASIC Head Speculative
Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has lost his appeal over the dismissal of his case against former ASIC Chair James Shipton, with the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia ruling Palmer's case was based on "pure speculation" and ordering him to pay Shipton's costs on Wednesday.
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July 07, 2026
Mark Latham, Justice Jackman To Talk At Samuel Griffith Conf
Independent NSW parliamentarian Mark Latham will deliver a speech titled, "The Rise and Fall of Social Engineering," at The Samuel Griffith Society's annual conference in Sydney next month, the conservative legal group told Law360.
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July 07, 2026
Noumi Ex-CEO Hid 'Football Fields' of Rotten Milk, Court Told
The sight of "football fields of rotten milk" should have incited the former chief executive of Noumi, a dairy and plant-based food company formerly Freedom Foods Group, to act on his financial obligations and write down the stock's value, ASIC has alleged in the Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday.
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July 07, 2026
Star Takes $55M Charge In ATO Junket Tour Tax Dispute
Star Entertainment has agreed to pay $55 million to settle disputes with the Australian Taxation Office over underpayments on GST and withholding tax treatment on payments to junket tour operators who brought high-worth gamblers to its casinos, it said on Tuesday.
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July 07, 2026
ASIC Not Subject To Federal Compensation Claims, Federal Court
A Federal Court judge in Melbourne has rejected a bid by an investor in collapsed luxury developer Lion Property Group to revive his claim for compensation from ASIC over allegedly negligent administration of the failed company, finding a federal reparations scheme can't be applied to the regulator.
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July 06, 2026
Nuix Loses Appeal Over $10M Berkshire Insurance Retention
The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed an appeal by Nuix over Berkshire Hathaway's insurance retention and ordered the analytics software firm to pay the defendants legal costs on top of the $10 million fee before the insurers' liability could be triggered.
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July 06, 2026
AUSTRAC Wants Law Firm Anti-Money Laundering Info Share
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas has warned micro money laundering poses a real threat and signaled demand for regulator collaboration with the legal industry to prevent it, in a speech in Melbourne.
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July 06, 2026
Macquarie, Netwealth May Face Uncompensated Losses Case
Gordon Legal said it is probing a potential class action against a group of superannuation firms and trustees, including Macquarie Bank and Netwealth, stemming from "uncompensated losses" related to the high-profile $1.1 billion collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds.
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July 06, 2026
High Court Launches Multi-Factor Authentication From July 17
Lodging court documents to the High Court of Australia and monitoring ongoing cases will require multi-factor authentication for all users from July 17, the court said on Friday.
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July 03, 2026
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.
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July 03, 2026
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.
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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.
Deutsche Bank Fined $2M Over 'Systemic' Misreporting
Deutsche Bank has been fined $2 million by ASIC for allegedly misreporting more than 260,000 derivative transactions, the regulator said in a statement on Monday, describing the issue as "systemic."
AML Laws Need Changes As Lawyers Mull Dropping Work
New anti-money laundering rules need clearer guidance on issues including how law firms should treat money held in trust when providing both covered and non-covered services, lawyers and legal associations told Law360, as some firms consider dropping covered work to avoid compliance risks.
ASIC To Probe KPMG, EY, Deloitte, PwC Internal Complaints Handling
ASIC on Thursday announced they are examining how the big four consultancy and audit firms KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC handle internal complaints, including those made by whistleblowers, as part of a broader effort to crack down on audit misconduct after the whistleblower scandal at KPMG.
Deutsche Bank Fined $2M Over 'Systemic' Misreporting
Deutsche Bank has been fined $2 million by ASIC for allegedly misreporting more than 260,000 derivative transactions, the regulator said in a statement on Monday, describing the issue as "systemic."
AML Laws Need Changes As Lawyers Mull Dropping Work
New anti-money laundering rules need clearer guidance on issues including how law firms should treat money held in trust when providing both covered and non-covered services, lawyers and legal associations told Law360, as some firms consider dropping covered work to avoid compliance risks.
ASIC To Probe KPMG, EY, Deloitte, PwC Internal Complaints Handling
ASIC on Thursday announced they are examining how the big four consultancy and audit firms KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC handle internal complaints, including those made by whistleblowers, as part of a broader effort to crack down on audit misconduct after the whistleblower scandal at KPMG.
Editor's Picks
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Victorian Contingency Fees Boost Class Returns, Data Shows
The introduction of percentage-based contingency fees in Victoria has significantly boosted returns for class members in the state, with around 18% more of the final take going to plaintiffs in the last year in Victorian class actions compared to Federal Court ones, analysis by Law360 has found.
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NSW Contingency Fee Push Could Accelerate Class Suits
Proposals for New South Wales to introduce contingency fees in class actions could speed up litigation and allow litigants and experienced lawyers to stay in the state when duking it out in court rather than travel to Victoria, plaintiff and defence class action litigators say.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Australia's Computer Patent Ruling Will Aid Global Companies
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.
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Assessing The Significance Of Australia-EU's Free Trade Deal
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.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: ICSID Enforcement In Australia
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.