On 27 March 2024, the Australian Government published the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (New Bill), which superseded the previous exposure...more
AUSTRALIAN UPDATE - Updated Bill to Introduce Climate-Related Financial Reporting Regime - Background - The Australian Government released the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market...more
5/29/2024
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Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
Australian Update - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Enforcement Priorities for 2024-2025 - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its enforcement and compliance priorities for...more
4/26/2024
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Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
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Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Green Bonds ,
Greenwashing ,
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Small Business ,
Supply Chain ,
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Sustainable Finance
Australia welcomes new business and foreign investment by providing a strong economy, a stable political environment and a skilled and talented workforce. Our comprehensive guide to Doing Business in Australia has been...more
4/19/2024
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Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ,
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Business Development ,
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Capital Gains Tax ,
Competition ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
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Digital Assets ,
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FinTech ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Franchises ,
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Immigration ,
Income Taxes ,
Insolvency ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Funds ,
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Joint Venture ,
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National Security ,
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Partnerships ,
Patents ,
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Risk Mitigation ,
Securities ,
Sole Proprietorship ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Rates ,
Thin Capitalization ,
Trademarks ,
Trusts ,
Venture Capital
Australian Update - Australian Securities and Investments Commission Continues Greenwashing Enforcement Efforts - On 28 February 2024, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported that an outsourced...more
4/2/2024
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Australia ,
Climate Change ,
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Financial Institutions ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment ,
Minerals ,
Misleading Statements ,
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Australian Update - Draft Legislation – Climate-Related Financial Disclosures The Australian Government has released Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Climate-related financial disclosure, which is draft legislation...more
3/1/2024
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ASIC ,
Audits ,
Australia ,
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Financial Services Industry ,
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Overview - Background - The Australian Government recently released an exposure draft of the legislation to implement mandatory climate-related financial disclosures (Draft Legislation). This follows the release of draft...more
2/20/2024
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Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Due Diligence ,
Duty of Care ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability
Asset managers (i.e., investment advisers) offering funds in more than one country are accustomed to adapting to different regulatory requirements. However, the challenges presented by the global regulation of environmental,...more
2/7/2024
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Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Green Finance ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Private Funds ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability ,
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Trusts
Investment advisers offering funds in more than one country are accustomed to adapting to different regulatory requirements. However, the challenges presented by the global regulation of environmental, social, and governance...more
11/10/2023
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Code of Conduct ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
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Sustainable Business Practices
As many global financial services organisations know, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) during 2020 finalised its Regulatory Guidance for Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs) to transition to...more
UPDATE ON ASIC FOREIGN AFSL REGIME - It has now been over five months since the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commenced its foreign Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) regime....more
Since our last update in late June, governments and regulators have been continuing to address COVID-19 issues with new updates released regularly. Notably, regulators have also extended some temporary measures given the...more
There are many government and regulator initiatives aimed at addressing COVID-19 issues and new responses emerge on a daily basis. We have summarised those announcements, relevant to the superannuation and funds management...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released on 10 March 2020 its finalised Regulatory Guide 176 for Foreign Financial Services Providers (FFSPs).
There are some differences in the final RG 176...more
On 23 October 2019, the Senate Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology (Committee) published an issues paper regarding its comprehensive inquiry into fintechs and regtechs in Australia....more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released its Feedback and Final Guidance (Guidance) on crypto-assets, specifying when certain types of crypto-assets fall under existing categories. ...more
Welcome to the first of a regular series of K&L Gates Legal Insights addressing the new enforcement environment in financial services.
The Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial...more
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released on 3 July 2019 Consultation Paper 315: Foreign financial services providers (CP 315) which seeks feedback on the proposed introduction of a modified...more
Late last month, several of the world’s largest banks invested $50 million in a digital cash settlement project with the aim of developing a more efficient clearing and settlement system. ...more
On 30 May 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) updated its Information Sheet 225 which sets out guidance for entities that are looking to raise funds through initial coin offerings (ICOs) or are...more
Two central banks have taken steps to facilitate cross border payments through the use of blockchain. On 1 May 2019, the Bank of Canada (BOC) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) jointly published a report on their...more
In January 2019, Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX, announced that it had lost $180 million of virtual currency, prompting calls for tighter regulatory oversight of the industry....more
In December 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled an enforcement action with Wealthfront, one of the industry’s leading robo advisors....more
On 18 March 2019, the Federal Australian Government announced its plan to establish the national blockchain roadmap (Roadmap) which intends to focus developing regulation, skills and capacity building, innovation, investment...more
Cryptocurrency exchanges have always been a prime target for hacking activity due to the vast amounts of cryptocurrency and money held within each exchange. Finding and exploiting weaknesses in exchanges can be very...more