Australia’s mature and stable market has maintained investor confidence and continues to be a leading destination for investment. However, investors face a range of challenges, particularly supply chain constraints and economic instability, due to rising inflation and higher costs of borrowing. ...

Fund managers should take note of recent guidance published by the Financial Services Council, which provides a set of baseline expectations for the investment management industry's approach to making net zero targets, ESG product labelling and other climate risk disclosure considerations. ...

Geo-political tensions, high inflation and rising interest rates have created significant market volatility. This inevitably breeds caution amongst sponsors, but also creates opportunity. ...

As the hydrogen industry begins to grow from pilot to commercial-scale projects, developers are starting to look to project finance and government funding to help pay for the mega-projects required for full commercialisation of Australia's hydrogen industry. ...

On 22 July 2022, the Government released changes to the FIRB application fee regime, in the form of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Imposition Amendment (Fee Doubling) Regulations 2022 (Cth). The Amending Regulations provide for a doubling of FIRB application fees from 29 July 2022, we outline and comment on the fee increases. ...

Developers and financiers will need to take a long-term view on the market and navigate a myriad of bankability issues to secure external bank debt. In this Insight we explore some of these key challenges. ...

The final anticipated amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (Cth) (SOCI Act) have been passed in the nick of time, making their way through the Senate in its last sitting before the 2022 Federal Election. These latest amendments introduce new and enhanced obligations for risk management programs and security respectively, and the concept of ‘systems of national significance’. ...

With ARENA's recently announced Large Scale Battery Storage Funding Round and the implementation of targeted regulatory reform on the horizon, investment in big batteries is expected to boom. In this Insight, we look at recent policy and regulatory developments, and highlight some of the key trends we are seeing in the big batteries space. ...

Alongside record flows into sustainable funds and investments, growing attention on ESG presents opportunities and challenges for investors and fund managers alike. Watch our latest video on key steps to harnessing the opportunities and mitigating the risks that ESG investing brings. ...

On 14 February 2022, the Government released proposed changes to the FIRB approval rules, in the form of an exposure draft of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Amendment Regulations 2022 which would amend the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulations 2015. We outline and comment on the changes proposed. ...