Stephen Long’s story last night on the ABC’s Four Corners beautifully illustrated the human cost of financial misconduct, as retirees and widows described the pain of having lost their super funds and…
In a fragile world and with a particularly fragile share market, Australia’s corporate regulators have seen their role in policing the area of continuous disclosure multiply. Disclosure requirements are…
Will anti-coal activist Jonathan Moylan receive justice if he is charged over his hoax? ASIC, which will formally interview Moylan next week, is under enormous pressure to “make an example” of the 24-year…
Yesterday an anti-coal activist, Jonathan Moylan issued a media release purportedly from the ANZ Bank withdrawing a $1.2 billion loan to Whitehaven Coal, which is developing a project in Maules Creek in…
It seems that ASIC’s Christmas present to investors is to get them to undertake an exam to see if they really know what is in the product disclosure statements that they agree to. Well, not exactly, but…
The Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation recently announced new ASIC Market Integrity Rules to address the growth in automated trading and the changing nature of dark liquidity in equities…
Investor confidence is an obvious imperative of corporate legislation. Section 674 of the Corporations Act, which requires disclosure of information concerning securities that is not generally available…
Fortescue Metals Chairman Andrew Forrest can breathe a huge sigh of relief after winning his High Court appeal against a Federal Court finding that might have seen him banned as a company director. The…
The dangers of massive high frequency trading are becoming increasingly clear in equity markets. Greg Medcraft, the chairman of corporate regulator ASIC, confirmed to a Federal parliamentary committee…
The attack on the authority, integrity and judgement of the chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Greg Medcraft, by the shadow minister for financial services and superannuation…
It’s been an interesting time for Australia’s corporate watchdog. Financial manoeuvres by Gina Rinehart and James Packer, which saw them increase their holdings in Fairfax Media and Echo Entertainment…
It’s been an extraordinary week for upmarket retailer David Jones. Last Friday, the company announced that it had received a $1.65 billion takeover bid from UK firm EB Private Equity, and its shares rose…
The election of Australia’s top corporate regulator Greg Medcraft to the chairmanship of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions has received nowhere near the prominence it deserves. Aside…
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has secured a major victory in its ongoing battle to enforce the efficacy of the continuous disclosure regime here as well as its standing as…
Two apparently successful negotiated prosecutions do not a successful strategy make. The outline of a flexing of agency discretion within the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has…
The audit profession has received consistently bad press in recent years. Audit independence, or rather the lack of it, has been blamed as a contributing factor in some of the major corporate collapses…
The agenda of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Annual Summer School in Sydney was dominated by discussions on how to reduce systemic risk. The noted increase in the regulatory perimeter…
When financial planning firm Storm Financial collapsed with $3 billion in investment losses, many of its investors were left destitute. A parliamentary joint committee inquiry into the company’s demise…
Five senior executives of the Chinese-owned investor Hanlong Mining have had assets frozen after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched an investigation into alleged insider…