Regulators

Clive Palmer has filed an application for default judgment against the former chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, James Shipton, in his proceedings alleging he acted in bad faith and beyond his power in the regulator’s pursuit of claims.

Telstra has been hit with a $1.5 million penalty from the communications regulator for failing to perform the requisite costumer ID authentication on over 150,000 “high-risk” interactions, such as SIM card swaps.

Birkenstock has succeeded in securing trade mark protection for the shape of four of its shoes, a boon to the German shoe maker as it fights knock-offs of its popular sandals.

Former BitConnect national promoter John Louis Bigatton has been convicted for his role in marketing the online cryptocurrency platform, a global Ponzi scheme that reached a market capitalisation of $5 billion before its collapse.

Fund manager Real Asset Management has appealed a ruling which upheld mortgage broker RAMS’ bid to block the registration of two RAM trade marks. 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has brought proceedings against retailer The Good Guys, alleging it made misleading statements about store credit. 

The consumer regulator has flagged concerns over national freight company Aurizon’s proposed acquisition of stevedoring and logistics business Flinders Logistics, saying the deal could incentivise Aurizon to block other rail haulage providers from accessing a key berth in Port Adelaide.

In a win for ASIC, the Federal Court has found that non-bank lender Firstmac Limited breached the design and distribution obligations, introduced in 2021, by marketing a managed investment scheme that could be unsuitable for customers’ financial needs. 

The Fair Work Commission has ruled that an electrician with BlueScope Steel was unfairly dismissed following a complaint by a coworker who did not give evidence to the commission, finding that it was “abundantly unfair” for the complaint to be advanced as hearsay evidence.

Telstra has been reprimanded by ACMA after the communications regulator found the silent numbers of more than 140,000 customers — including domestic violence victims — were made public.