While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set out to rein in the market power of Google and Facebook, the sweeping proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report would affect a large number of businesses and could have a detrimental effect on smaller companies and innovation, lawyers say.
Japanese shipping company K-Line has been hit with a $34.5 million penalty for criminal cartel conduct, the largest consumer criminal fine in Australian history.
Australia’s largest potato wholesaler Mitolo Group will pay a penalty of $240,000 to resolve the consumer regulator’s case alleging its contracts with growers were unfair.
A judge has warned the parties in The Cosmetic Institute class action over allegedly botched breast implants to ensure group members’ rights are prioritised, following a push for an early class closure amid doctor-patient confidentiality concerns.
Australian airline giant Qantas says it has no plans to decrease its 19.9 per cent stake in Alliance Airlines, after the competition watchdog expressed preliminary concerns the deal could substantially lessen competition.
A six-week trial set to start in October in the cartel case against mobility equipment provider Country Care Group has been vacated and rescheduled to next year, as the judge overseeing the case quipped that he was either the “canary or the guinea pig” in the landmark criminal proceeding.
Customers of mortgage lending and investment firm RMBL say they were “shocked” when the company’s chief financial officer allegedly called them to say “he hoped” they would opt out of an excessive fees class action that had been filed against the firm.
Rural supply giant Landmark’s has offered to sell three stores to win Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval for its proposed $469 million takeover of competitor Ruralco, a move that would consolidate two of the three largest players in the rural merchandise market.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has appealed a Federal Court judgment tossing its consumer case against Kimberly-Clark over “flushable” wipes.
The government has thrown its weight behind the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s call for checking the power of Facebook and Google, in a long-awaited final report that recommends a sweep of measures to crack down on the digital giants, and extend well beyond them.