In Australia, litigation funding arrangements have not previously been considered to be managed investment schemes – however class action funders are now being forced to review procedures. According to Allens Arthur Robinson, the 2-1 majority decision by Australia’s Federal Court in Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v International Litigation Funding Partners Pte Ltd, which was handed down […]
Read MoreAustralia’s Productivity Commission will submit its final report on executive remuneration to the Federal Government on 19 December. The Productivity Commission was asked to undertake a public inquiry into the regulatory framework around remuneration of directors and executives of companies regulated under the Corporations Act. It was asked to make recommendations on how the existing […]
Read MoreWith the AGM of Fairfax Media due to be held on 10 November, Fairfax directors John B Fairfax and his son Nicholas have released a public statement indicating that the will vote against the re-election of the Chairman, Ron Walker, at the AGM. This follows comments by Walker on Thursday in the Australian Financial Review […]
Read MoreIn a pre-trial debate, AWB has stated that it does not consider “transport fees” paid to a Jordanian transport company, which had close connections to the Iraqi government, to be a bribe. The Age has reported that the pre-trial debate focused on whether the Office of National Assessments was entitled to avoid producing documents to […]
Read MoreThe Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has today released a second consultation package on remuneration at financial institutions. This second package comprises a response paper to the submissions, together with revised draft versions of the relevant governance standards and an associated draft prudential practice guide (PPG). PPG 551, a Prudential Practice Guide on remuneration, is […]
Read MoreThe New South Wales Supreme Court has imposed bans and penalties on former directors and officers of James Hardie following the ruling in April 2009 by Justice Ian Gzell that the ten had breached their duties to the company in 2001 over a misleading media release about asbestos compensation. Some of the former executives are […]
Read MoreAustralia’s Business Day has reported that The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (‘ASIC’) wants seven former non-executive directors and three former executives at James Hardie banned from company directorships for at least five years each and fined a total of $2.8 million to $3.4 million. Justice Ian Gzell began hearing submissions on exoneration, penalties and […]
Read MoreThe Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has published its latest analysis of reporting against the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s Principles and Recommendations and finds that companies and trusts are continuing to improve their corporate governance reporting. ASX’s supervision subsidiary, ASX Markets Supervision (ASXMS), reviewed the FY08 annual reports of 1,510 listed entities that reported with a 30 June […]
Read MoreThe public inquiry into the regulatory framework around remuneration of directors and executives of companies regulated under Australia’s Corporations Act continues and a draft report is in preparation. Some 79 initial submissions have received by the Productivity Commission inquiry. Public hearings will be held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during June and July 2009. Some […]
Read More