O77 Public Order Safety and Regulatory Services

ACCC bill faces Senate defeat

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Mar-15

The Federal Government’s attempt to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission is unlikely to be successful. The legislation proposed by the Government is likely to be defeated in the Senate. Crossbench senators Ricky Muir, Jacqui Lambie and John Madigan have vowed to vote against it

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA

Rinehart blames high costs on government

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 24 : 12-Mar-15

Billionaire Gina Rinehart says high labour costs have a bigger impact on the profitability of Australian mining companies than low commodity prices. She stated on 11 March 2015 that the regulatory burden is too heavy and costly for companies. Roy Hill Holdings CEO Barry Fitzgerald revealed that the company had to seek more than 4,000 approvals for its iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

CORPORATES
ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, POSCO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARUBENI AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CHINA STEEL AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INCORPORATED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

ASX chief puts weight behind Murray recommendations

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Original article by James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Mar-15

The final report of the Australian Government’s financial system inquiry included recommendations on the future regulation of the corporate bond market. ASX CEO Elmer Funke Kupper has urged bipartisan parliamentary support for the proposed reforms, arguing that issuing retail corporate bonds in particular is costly and time consuming in Australia. He notes that the disclosure and prospectus requirements are much more onerous that when raising capital on the sharemarket

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Spike in $A seconds before rates call

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Original article by Sally Rose, Jonathan Shapiro, Gareth Hutchens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 5-Mar-15

Concerns about insider trading in the foreign exchange market has intensified after the Australian dollar rose by 0.5 per cent less than a minute before the Reserve Bank announced that the cash rate would remain on hold in March 2015. The currency had fallen by 0.8 per cent only seconds before the previous rate announcement in February. Currency experts such as the Commonwealth Bank’s Richard Grace support the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s decision to investigate the irregular trading activity

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BLOOMBERG LP, THOMSON REUTERS PLC

Chinese undeterred by new investment rules

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 4-Mar-15

Geoff Raby & Associates founder Geoff Raby says his firm has received an increase in enquiries from prospective Chinese investors in Australia’s agricultural sector. This includes sectors such as dairy, meat and wheat, and includes both farmland and processing facilities. The Australian Government has proposed new regulations for foreign investors in assets such as farms and housing, including application fees that start from $A5,000

CORPORATES
GEOFF RABY AND ASSOCIATES, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND SCIENCES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CBH LIMITED, CO-OPERATIVE BULK HANDLING LIMITED

Business fears a return to union chaos

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Mar-15

Fair Work Building & Construction’s powers to take action over unlawful conduct by unions are slated to expire at the end of May 2015. The Australian Government faces resistance from the Opposition and the Australian Greens to extend these powers. Groups such as the Australian Industry Union and Master Builders Australia are concerned about the impact on the construction industry if the sunset clause introduced by the Australian Labor Party takes effect

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PALMER UNITED PARTY

Regulators examine super switch breaches

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 3-Mar-15

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will look into allegations that banks are illegally trying to gain market share in the superannuation sector. UMR Research has released the findings of a survey which suggests that banks have offered inducements to encourage employers to change their default super funds to those offered by the banks. The Financial Services Council says UMR should disclose which banks have offered incentives to switch default funds

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, UMR RESEARCH PTY LTD, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD

Responsible insurance-sale call repeated

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 2-Mar-15

Financial system inquiry member Craig Dunn says Australia should not follow the European Union by introducing an individual appropriateness test for the insurance industry. He argues that such a test would result in significant costs for the industry. He says the inquiry instead favours an increased obligation on the part of product issuers and distributors to act responsibly when selling insurance products

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, GREAT BRITAIN. FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ASIC used legal powers to extract NAB information

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 26-Feb-15

The corporate regulator is reviewing compensation paid to clients of National Australia Bank who received inappropriate financial advice. Greg Medcraft, the chairman of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, said on 25 February 2015 that the regulator asked the bank for more information about compensation. The bank paid between $A10 million and $A15 million to aggrieved customers

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Attestation: a word to make bankers tremble

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 23-Feb-15

The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK is increasingly using so-called attestations to make bank executives and managers personally accountable for misconduct within the financial institution. Jonny Gordon of law firm Ashurst suggests that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission could also eventually begin using attestations

CORPORATES
GREAT BRITAIN. FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY, ASHURST AUSTRALIA, ASHURST LLP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, YORKSHIRE BANK PLC