Organisations today are both blessed and cursed with extraordinary amounts of data. The responsibility for information security and data governance starts and ends with the board and senior management. We offer a handbook to help navigate duties and liabilities and a checklist of questions directors should be asking. ...

APRA and AUSTRAC provide risk-management guidance in relation to crypto-assets ...

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’. ...

Coming off a busy 18 months or so – with the number of reforms too long to count on all fingers and toes – superannuation trustees could be forgiven for wanting to take an extended holiday from regulatory change. But with Parliament prorogued ahead of the election, now is a chance for trustees to take stock of the regulatory reforms slated for 2022. In this Insight, we provide a snapshot of the key reforms. ...

In its 2022–23 Budget, the Federal Government announced an expansion of its proposed concessional tax rates to agricultural and low emissions technology innovations. These concessional tax rates for profits derived from eligible intellectual property are known as a 'patent box'. ...

Welcome to our monthly snapshot of regulatory updates and other developments in corporate law. We know you are busy, so our focus is on capturing key issues. ...

On Friday, the government released its long awaited consultation paper on a proposal to transfer jurisdiction over schemes which effect a control transaction to the Takeovers Panel. This proposal was originally foreshadowed in last year's budget, and the government is seeking feedback on the proposal by 3 June 2022. ...

In PE Horizons 2021, we predicted the year could be one of, if not the, busiest years ever for dealmakers in Australia. Although our prediction proved to be correct, to the surprise of many, traditional PE investors had a relatively mixed ...

The Federal Government is seeking feedback on a proposed new licensing regime for crypto asset secondary service providers (CASSPrs) and new requirements regulating custody of crypto assets. The new regime would potentially sit alongside the existing AFS licensing regime, with possible overlap and inconsistency in treatment of service providers. The Government is also seeking early views on how crypto assets should be defined and categorised as part of a 'crypto mapping' exercise. The consultation period runs until 27 May 2022. ...

The recent Victorian case of Hartman1 demonstrates the potential stamp duty dangers of relying on nominee clauses in transactions involving land (or other dutiable property). The VCAT decision highlights the importance of settling, if possible, on the identity of the ultimate transferee prior to execution of a contract and, above all, the need for developers and other purchasers of land to seek advice before relying on a nominee clause or otherwise seeking to transfer title to a third party. ...