LEGISLATIVE BODIES – COMMITTEES

Banking inquiry risks credit crunch

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 4 : 30-May-18

Treasury secretary John Fraser appeared before the Senate economics committee on 29 May. He said the banking royal commission may lead to stricter lending standards in the sector, which could in turn potentially result in a "credit crunch". Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has told the committee that there is no reason for the government to provide year-by-year costings for its personal income tax cuts package. He argued that Labor did not provide such costings for the National Disability Insurance Scheme when it was in office.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Uber, Airbnb, Deliveroo urge labour law shake-up

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 20-Mar-18

The Senate inquiry into the future of work has received more than 140 submissions, with sharing-economy businesses arguing that existing workplace laws are outdated. Deliveroo has used its submission to propose the creation of a new category of employment for people who work in the "gig economy", noting that regulations governing casual employees are not compatible with its business model. Meanwhile, Google has stressed the need to retrain up to 3.5 million workers whose jobs may be at risk due to digital disruption.

CORPORATES
DELIVEROO, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK, FOODORA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC

Softened spy laws sent for scrutiny

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 6-Mar-18

The Federal Government has amended proposed foreign interference laws in response to the media industry’s concern about the impact on freedom of the press. Although journalists will not be exempt from the laws, they will only face criminal prosecution for reporting on classified documents if their actions pose a threat to public safety or national security, or affect an ongoing criminal investigation. The amendments will be scrutinised by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence & Security.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Treasury boss backs company tax cuts

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Mar-18

Treasury secretary John Fraser appeared before the Senate economics committee on 28 February, arguing the case for the Federal Government’s corporate tax package. He warned that Australia will have one of the highest company tax rates among developed nations following tax cuts in the US, the UK and France, and its international competitiveness will be adversely affected if across-the-board company tax cuts do not proceed. Meanwhile, Treasury adviser Michael Kouparitsas refuted Labor’s claim that foreign investors would be the main beneficiaries of the tax cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

NAB, CBA: We didn’t hike rates for profit

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Oct-17

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority requested in March that interest-only loans be capped at 30 per cent of all mortgages. National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank executives were asked by federal parliament’s economics committee on 20 October why they lifted rates for existing interest-only loan customers in the wake of APRA’s directive, with the suggestion being that they were motivated by profit. However, this implication was rejected by the bank executives.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Rise in insurer requests for full medical records

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Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Oct-17

The federal parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services is investigating the $A44 billion life insurance sector. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has told the committee that its members are receiving increased requests for full patient records, while it believes strongly that such requests should not be allowed. MDA National believes that patients should be informed if an insurance company has made a request to access their records.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. JOINT COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS, MDA NATIONAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AIA AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Senate push for stronger BOOT test

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 5-Oct-17

The Business Council of Australia has supported a Senate committee’s proposal to make changes to the "better off overall test" in the Fair Work Act to ensure that workers’ rights are protected. A BCA spokesman says addressing such deficiencies is necessary in order to enhance the enterprise bargaining system and address the issue of low growth in wages. The Labor-dominated Senate committee recommended some "fine-tuning" of the better off overall test.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Push for stronger better-off work test

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Oct-17

The report of a Senate committee that has been examining the issue of penalty rates has recommended some "fine-tuning" of the Fair Work Act’s "better-off-overall test" to ensure that workers’ rights are protected. The report is also believed to have concluded that workers should be entitled to trade-off weekend penalty rates in return for higher weekday pay rate in enterprise agreement negotiations, but only if they will be better off overall. The report’s other recommendations include legislative action to overturn the Fair Work Commission’s ruling on Sunday penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ASIC still gathering evidence against CBA: Medcraft

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Sep-17

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will shortly commence legal action against three of the nation’s four major banks over allegation that they manipulated the bank bill swap rate. However, ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft has told parliament’s economics committee that it is still investigating the Commonwealth Bank over rigging of the BBSW. The bank is also being investigated by ASIC for possible breaches of its continuous disclosure obligations regarding the money-laundering scandal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Whistleblowers to get percentage of penalties

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 15-Sep-17

Providing whistleblowers with financial rewards is among the recommendations of a joint parliamentary committee that is examining the issue of increased protection for whistleblowers. The committee has proposed that people who expose corrupt practices in the corporate sector should receive a proportion of the financial penalty imposed on the company. Lauren Witherdin of KPMG has downplayed the concerns of lawyers that a "bounty" system modelled on the US one would encourage people to make spurious allegations for financial gain.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NICK XENOPHON TEAM