The ACCC has flagged competition concerns about drug supplier Sigma Healthcare’s proposed $8.8 billion reverse merger with Chemist Warehouse, saying the tie-up could harm independent pharmacies and lessen competition in pharmacy retail.
Ashurst has lured two partners from competing firms to join its Perth office, bolstering its restructuring and investigations offerings for clients in the energy sector.
A judge has raised concerns about bids to declass group proceedings over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the thousands of policyholders who registered for the class actions might reap more from the cases than making claims directly with their insurers.
Santos is seeking to wrangle further documents from the Environmental Defenders Office to support its bid for costs orders against the law firm, telling a court there must have been “glaring deficiencies” in the standard of its services in running its challenge to construction of a pipeline for the energy company’s $5.6 billion Barossa gas project.
A Senate report into the government’s use of consultants, launched in the wake of PwC’s leak of confidential Treasury information, has recommended an inquiry into whether partnerships should be subject to the same regulations as corporations and again called on PwC to release the names of all those involved in the leak of confidential government information.
Payday lenders Cigno and BSF Solutions have appealed a decision that found they provided credit without a licence, and rejected the claim that their loan model is analogous to buy now, pay later arrangements that donāt require a licence.
The Mining and Energy Union is pursuing pay increases of up to $40,000 per year for labour hire workers at three BHP coal mines under new legislation, saying the energy giant’s use of labour hire to cut pay was “out of step” with community standards and the law.
The judge overseeing AUSTRACās case against Star Entertainment has questioned the partiesā agreement to refer questions of fact and law to a former judge for determination, rather than an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing expert.Ā
The owner of a major coal power station in Western Australia has lost its bid for an inquiry into alleged misconduct by the receivers of collapsed Griffin Coal after they tried to avoid obligations under coal supply agreements, with a judge saying the allegations were “relatively trivial”.Ā
The lead applicant in a class action against former Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiary Count Financial has settled individual claims in the case, which alleges the financial advisory firm charged fees for no service.