Associates Tiernan Christensen and Nick Li report on some noteworthy developments relevant to the food industry in Australia. ...

The Equator Principles Association unveiled the finalised fourth version of the Equator Principles (EP4) on 18 November 2019. Set for an effective date of 1 July 2020, EP4 heightens requirements for designated OECD countries and tightens due diligence assessments with a greater focus on human rights, climate change and biodiversity. While there are many improvements and refinements from the draft we reviewed in June, the only potentially material change is a compromise on the 'free prior and informed consent' requirement for affected Indigenous communities. ...

The Federal Court has handed down the first judgment in a shareholder class action. There is plenty in the decision for board members and senior executives to consider in the application of the continuous disclosure laws. ...

ASIC has released its first report focusing on director and officer oversight of non-financial risk in seven large financial services companies (the First Report). While the report focuses on financial services companies, ASIC points out expressly that all companies, regardless of sector, should read and engage with the findings of this report. ...

Big business should be aware of mandatory publishing requirements for whistleblower policies and a reverse onus of proof for compensation which is among a raft of whistleblower reforms contained in draft legislation released following a Senate inquiry report Partner Rachel Nicolson and Associate ...

Two important pieces of draft legislation under Federal consideration are how employers deal with historical superannuation contribution shortfalls, and the possible requirement of employers to report on modern slavery risks and practices in their workforce and supply chains. ...

As fertile ground for class actions the Royal Commission has highlighted an ongoing problem with Australia's class action regime - there is no clear consistent means for resolving competing class actions. ...

In the latest instalment in the attempts to deal with competing shareholder class actions the Full Federal Court has ordered the transfer of four shareholder class actions against AMP to the Supreme Court of New South Wales where a fifth class action is already pending In doing so the court gave the ...

In a rare appellate court decision dealing with anti-dumping law, the FFCA has clarified that the Anti-Dumping Commission's ability to calculate hypothetical amounts for the purposes of determining normal value is not at large, and must conform strictly with anti-dumping legislation ...

The Attorney-General has announced that he has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into class action proceedings and third party litigation funders The inquiry presents an important opportunity to take stock of how the class actions landscape has evolved particularly whether ...