INDEPENDENT REGULATORY COMMISSIONS – AUSTRALIA

TPG could lift mobile prices despite block on sharing deal

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 23-Dec-22

Morningstar analyst Brian Han says the proposed regional mobile network sharing deal between TPG Telecom and Telstra is "not completely dead", given that both telcos intend to appeal the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s ruling. Amongst other things, the ACCC took the view that approving the deal would have given TPG an incentive to increase its mobile prices as soon as the network-sharing arrangement was completed. However, Eric Choi of Barrenjoey contends that TPG would have been likely to increase its mobile prices even if the ACCC had approved the deal. He notes that TPG is the only major telco that has not yet increased its consumer prices.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPG, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, BARRENJOEY CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Greens threaten to support Liberal amendment in move that could derail passage of key integrity bill

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 29-Nov-22

The federal government is still aiming to pass legislation for its National Anti-Corruption Commission before parliament rises for the year. However, it has received a setback after the Liberal Party proposed an amendment which would require the appointments of the NACC commissioner and inspector to be approved by at least three-quarters of the joint parliamentary oversight committee’s members. The Greens have indicated that they may be open to supporting this amendment unless the government agrees to allow the NACC’s parliamentary oversight committee to be chaired by a non-government MP.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Public hearing test strikes right balance

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Nov-22

The Greens have confirmed that they will support legislation to establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission. However, Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather and other crossbenchers have urged the federal government to lower the threshold for public hearings of the NACC. As it stands, the NACC bill requires hearings to be held in private unless there are "exceptional circumstances". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the exceptional circumstances test, arguing that it strikes a balance between the benefits of public hearings and the potential negative impacts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Labor in retreat on corruption watchdog warrants

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Nov-22

The federal government has agreed to some compromises regarding its bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has put forward an amendment which restricts the power to issue surveillance warrants to superior court judges; it had originally proposed that members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be authorised to approve warrants to bug phones or access encrypted messages. Labor has also agreed to provide increased protections for journalists and their sources. The Senate is slated to vote on the NACC bill next week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

Nats upset by watchdog threat to grants fund

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Oct-22

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has suggested that the proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission could be given the power to investigate the targeting of seats through grant programs. However, Nationals leader David Littleproud says such programs are a mechanism for seeing that regional areas get their fair share of funding, and that they should not come under the remit of the NACC. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says it does not view ‘pork barrelling’ as corruption but as a way of taking care of regional towns. Meanwhile, the Coalition has called for a high-ranking judge to make the final decision on whether NACC hearings are held in public.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ACCC under fire as ANZ cartel charges reduced

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Original article by Charlotte Grieve
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is under scrutiny over its role in prosecuting a cartel case against the ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions recently dropped all charges against Citi Australia’s former head Stephen Roberts, plus a number of charges against the other five bank executives involved in the case. However, the DPP wants to re-interview JP Morgan bankers who were given immunity from prosecution by the ACCC in return for providing evidence in the case. Sources have claimed that the JP Morgan witnesses are "fast becoming discredited".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

ACCC to target Google and Facebook again

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Jul-21

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says a US court’s recent rejection of an antitrust case against Facebook will not deter global regulators from taking further action against digital giants. However, rather than seeking to have companies such as Facebook and Google broken up, the ACCC will use two current inquiries into digital advertising services and digital platform services to try to limit their ability to exploit their market power. Both inquiries are slated to report to the federal government in coming months.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Crown role makes Coonan unfit to lead financial ombudsman: Labor

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Nov-20

Opposition financial services spokesman Stephen Jones claims Helen Coonan’s role as chairman of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority is "untenable". Coonan is also the chairman of casino operator Crown Resorts, which is currently the subject of inquiry by the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. Jones says Coonan should not be head of a body that determines whether financial entities have been acting with probity while at the same time trying to push off allegations that Crown’s casinos have been used for significant money laundering. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says establishing the Authority is a "proud achievement" of the federal government, and that Coonan is a "widely respected" former MP.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT LIQUOR AND GAMING AUTHORITY

Watchdog probes sabotage claims at Probuild, Watpac

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 28-Oct-20

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has informed a Senate estimates hearing that it is investigating work stoppages at building sites in Sydney. The New South Wales branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has cited safety issues as the reason for the industrial action that has targeted Probuild and Watpac. The safety blitz has coincided with the CFMMEU’s push to get the two companies to sign a new enterprise agreement. The proposed pay deal includes annual pay rises of five per cent and revised arrangements for rostered days off.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PROBUILD PTY LTD, WATPAC LIMITED

Give more help to borrowers: APRA

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 23-Sep-20

Repayments on more than 900,000 mortgage and business loans were deferred in late March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many borrowers are now facing the six-month anniversary of their deferral, and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has offered lenders a number of suggestions about how to handle customers who are slated to resume repayments. Amongst other things, APRA has suggested that lenders should contact borrowers via a number of channels in the lead-up to the expiry of their deferral period. National Australia Bank CEO Ross McEwan recently indicated that 20 per cent of these customers have failed to respond when it has contacted them regarding the issue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB