The National Australia Bank faces the prospect of “significant monetary penalties” after self-reporting a potentially large number of money laundering and counter terrorism financing breaches to AUSTRAC and its overseas counterparts.
The Federal Government has conditionally approved a $1.5 billion acquisition of all shares in baby food and milk formula manufacturer Bellamy’s Australia by a Hong Kong-based dairy firm after finding the transaction was “not contrary to the national interest”.
Insolvency firm Worrells has come out in support of partner Jason Bettles, who is facing an investigation by the corporate regulator for his work as liquidator of the Members Alliance Group of companies, saying the probe was unexpected.
Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc has lost a challenge to the registration of two ‘Hellcat’ trade marks by FCA Group, producer of well-known auto brands Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Alfa Romeo.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has considered whether an insured buyer under a warranty and indemnity policy is entitled to indemnity from an insurer when it relied on income and liability warranties in a share sale agreement and those warranties were breached, a case that provides welcome guidance on the contractual interpretation of W&I policies, writes Justin McDonnell and Rebecca LeBherz of King & Wood Mallesons.
The Takeovers Panel has found that while a $2.5 million break fee included in a $470 million takeover offer lobbed during a bidding war for Western Australia power supplier Pacific Energy was not a “common market approach”, it was not anti-competitive or coercive.
Google has slammed landmark regulatory action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over the collection and use of location data on Android devices as “cherry-picked”, saying the watchdog had read alleged misstatements by the tech giant out of context.
The former chief financial officer of Murray Goulburn has asked a judge to relieve him from any disqualification order sought by the corporate watchdog in its case over his alleged role in the milk supplier’s continuous disclosure breaches, saying he is already the subject of orders that ban him from the dairy industry.
A specialist IP law firm has launched preliminary discovery proceedings against HWL Ebsworth after one of its lawyers jumped ship.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission wants to investigate the conduct of a Worrells partner in relation to the winding up of Members Alliance Group, a group of property investment companies whose 2016 collapse stripped creditors of over $40 million and left its director facing fraud charges.