501-510 of 514 results
Changes to the rules governing foreign investment in Australian agriculture
The Australian Government has announced that from 1 March 2015 acquisitions of agricultural land worth more than A15 million and any additional acquisitions over and above that amount will require government approval It will also establish a foreign ownership register of agricultural land ...
Finality: an important objective of class actions
The recent Great Southern class action settlement included a term by which group members acknowledged and admitted that loans taken out with independent financiers to finance investments in Great Southern managed investment schemes were valid and enforceable Two separate Victorian Supreme Court ...
The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
After almost 10 years of negotiations between the nations on 17 November 2014 Prime Minister Abbott and President Xi announced the conclusion of negotiations on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement ChAFTA Once implemented the ChAFTA is expected to significantly reduce import barriers for ...
The fiduciary duty of mortgage brokers?
There is lots of noise about the duties of financial advisers and lawyers including us love to debate whether FoFA has left any room for fiduciary obligations ...
Court takes an expansive view of threshold requirement for class actions against multiple respondents
A representative proceeding can only be commenced where seven or more group members have claims against the same person In proceedings with multiple respondents there has been conflicting authority as to whether each group member is required to have a claim against each respondent Last week in Cash ...
Does legal professional privilege apply to communications with third-party commercial advisers?
Parties involved in large-scale commercial transactions with non-lawyer third-party advisers need to be aware that communications with these advisers will rarely be protected by legal professional privilege following a recent Federal Court decision ...
Will ASIC shift its regulatory focus from disclosure to suitability?
The Financial System Inquiry inevitably the Murray Inquiry is the successor of the Campbell Inquiry 1979-1981 and the Wallis Inquiry 1996-1997 Both the Campbell and Wallis reports considered that investors were best protected through disclosure and market integrity rules Both reports assumed that ...
More (good) Queensland property law changes (inc. up to 20% deposits!!)
Further amendments to existing property legislation that aims to streamline the sale of property particularly in respect of the sale of off-the-plan lots have been introduced into the Queensland Parliament These amendments will be of substantial benefit to developers Partner Alister Fitzgerald ...
The Federal Court on information to third parties, legal professional privilege and waiver
A recent Federal Court decision highlights the importance of managing the provision of information and documentation to third parties with caution in order to preserve legal professional privilege Partner Richard Harris and Senior Associate Elnaz Nikibin report on the case ...
Confirmation of FATCA Status of Australian Superannuation Funds
The Intergovernmental Agreement between Australia and the United States in relation to the implementation of the FATCA regime has been signed. ...