ACCC

The Port of Newcastle has largely won its High Court fight with mining giant Glencore over access fees and will now be able to set a higher price for use of the port’s facilities.

The ACCC has been accused of running a “experimental test case” that tries to fit the shares market within the scope of the Competition and Consumer Act with its criminal cartel case against Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and several prominent banking executives over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement.

Collapsed NSW training company Australian Institute of Professional Education has been slugged with a $153 million penalty, the highest ever fine in a consumer law case, after the Federal Court found the school targeted vulnerable students through an “unconscionable” enrolment system.

JPMorgan Australia chairman Rob Priestley told Citigroup and Deutsche Bank executives not to “panic” about picking up a shortfall in the sale of ANZ shares, a court has heard in the ACCC’s criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given the green light to pork processor JBS Australia to proceed with its proposed $175 million acquisition of a Singapore-owned pig farm and abattoir business, despite competition concerns raised by pig farmers.

A senior ACCC officer tried to dissuade ASIC from investigating alleged insider trading by JPMorgan because of fears it would “upset” the competition regulator’s criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement, a court has heard.

A senior ACCC officer was probed Tuesday on whether the competition regulator updated its guidelines for taking witness statements in July in response to criticism of investigators’ methods in the cartel probe over ANZ’s $2.5 billion share placement.

Specialist workplace relations consultancy Employsure has been ordered to pay a $1 million penalty over a series of misleading Google advertisements, a figure significantly lower than the $5 million sought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Apple and Google’s legal woes in Australia are set to worsen, with a leading class action firm preparing to file class actions against the Silicon Valley giants for alleged competition and consumer law violations.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has appointed an esteemed Herbert Smith Freehills competition partner who defeated some of the regulator’s most high-profile merger challenges to be a commissioner.