Australia

Australia Should Hold Fire on Exec Pay Laws

Neil Baker May 26, 2011

The Australian government should not introduce new laws on executive pay levels or disclosure, and should think about scrapping some of the complex regulations that exist already, according to a report from its legal advisor.

Australia and New Zealand Finish Accounts Convergence

Neil Baker May 16, 2011

Australia and New Zealand have adopted new financial reporting standards that complete a project to converge the two countries' accounting regimes.

Australian Regulator Wants Clearer Prospectus Disclosures

Neil Baker April 15, 2011

Australia's securities regulator has proposed new rules to make corporate prospectuses easier to understand and to improve the risk information they provide.

Director Laws Damage Corporate Australia, Says Survey

Global Glimpses November 05, 2010

Australia’s tough laws on director liability are hurting the country’s economy and discouraging people from taking on board roles, according to a new survey.A third of directors had turned down a seat on a company board because of the risk of personal liability, said a survey by the Australian Institute...

Australia Wants Target Number of Women on Boards

Global Glimpses April 29, 2010

Companies with a stock market listing in Australia would have to disclose more information about the number of women they employ and publish clear targets for getting more women into top jobs, under proposed new corporate governance rules.Companies would have to reveal how many women they employ overall, how many...

Australia Overhauls Securities Regulation

Global Glimpses September 03, 2009

The Australian government has published plans for a major overhaul of how the country’s financial markets are regulated.Australia’s individual financial markets will be stripped of the power to self-regulate market participants. Instead, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will become an all-powerful body responsible for supervision and enforcement across...

Australian Corporate Governance Getting Worse

Global Glimpses July 27, 2009

Corporate governance standards at Australian companies are getting worse, with a high percentage showing “significant deficiencies” in their boardroom practices, according to a report from accountants WHK Horwath. Less than 16 percent of the country’s 250 largest companies are achieving best practice standards, the firm says.Among the country’s largest listed...

Australia: ML Accused of Massive Insider Trades

Bruce Carton May 29, 2009

Down under, Merrill Lynch and one of its subsidiaries face allegations from a Sydney businessman that they engaged in what would reportedly be "the biggest case of insider trading in [Australia's] corporate history."The allegations against Merrill Lynch by David Waterhouse relate to certain short-selling by Merrill Lynch of $55 million...

Australia Pushes for e-Discovery to Cut Compliance Costs

Global Glimpses March 12, 2009

The Federal Court of Australia has released long-awaited rules that require companies involved in certain legal disputes to exchange documents in a searchable, electronic format. The “e-discovery” move is part of a government effort to overhaul Australia’s legal system—it wants to reduce compliance costs and make the country an easier...

VC Backing Raises Governance Standards at IPOs

Global Glimpses December 09, 2008

Companies that have venture capital (VC) funding before they make an Initial Public Offering of shares have better corporate governance than those without VC support, according to new research from Australia.The boards of VC-backed companies joining the Australian Stock Exchange (ASE) had a higher percentage of independent directors, and those...

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