Regulators

Embattled investment group Mayfair 101 is challenging a judge’s decision last month to slug it with a $30 million penalty for engaging in misleading and deceptive advertising.

The Australian Federal Police is cracking down on COVID-19 rapid antigen test price gouging, deploying a zero-tolerance strike team to investigate “outrageous” markups referred by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

A law firm has escaped an order for costs sought by a Melbourne city council that argued the firm had turned a blind eye to a client’s lack of credibility in an unfair dismissal case.

Israeli drug company Neurim Pharmaceuticals has won an eight month extension to apply for a grace period for its melatonin tablet patent to treat children with autism spectrum disorder after Australian company Generic Partners lost its “inherently implausible” opposition to the patent.

Embattled wealth advisor Dixon Advisory has filed for administration, saying its potential liability in two class actions and a $7.2 million penalty it agreed to pay in ASIC proceedings mean it is likely to become insolvent in the future.

Oil company ExxonMobil has appealed decisions by the Australian Taxation Office to refuse deductions on profits from the sale of petrol from the largest oil field in Australia, claiming its taxable profits over four years should be reduced by $181.8 million.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is working with the Australian Federal Police to combat price gouging over the sale of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests.

The ACCC will seek a higher penalty against Employsure over misleading Google advertisements, after a judge found the consumer regulator’s proposed $5 million penalty was inappropriate and instead ordered the specialist workplace relations consultancy to pay $1 million.

AUSTRAC has expanded into investigation into Star Entertainment’s compliance with anti-money laundering laws, two months after a third law firm announced a shareholder class action investigation into the casino operator on the back of damning media reports.

An Airbnb host’s claim for JobKeeper payments has been shot down, with a tribunal saying the accommodation of paying guests at one’s own home did not constitute a business.