Regulators

A judge has sentenced the former CEO of Bingo Industries to two years’ imprisonment to be served in the community and imposed $30 million in penalties against the waste company for a cartel arrangement with rival Aussie Skips, which copped fines of $3.5 million and an 18 month’ intensive corrections order for its boss. 

A judge has dismissed a bid by Medibank to restrain the Office of Australian Information Commissioner from proceeding with a class action-style complaint on behalf of millions of the private health insurer’s customers affected by an October 2022 data breach.

The Australian Information Commissioner has launched an investigation into the personal information handling practices of law firm HWL Ebsworth following a cyberattack that saw the firm’s data dumped on the dark web. 

Mining giant Clive Palmer has asked the High Court to hear his challenge to a court’s finding that lawsuits he brought challenging two criminal cases against him over a takeover bid and payments to his political party were themselves an abuse of process and should be stayed.

The ACCC’s rejection of a $4.9 billion merger between ANZ and Suncorp was hardly surprising given the concentrated nature of the home loans market, but the competition regulator faced an uphill battle in having the decision upheld, an expert says.

The ACCC’s decision to block a $4.9 billion merger between ANZ and Suncorp has been set aside, with a tribunal finding the transaction will not substantially lessen competition in the home loans market or for agribusiness and SME clients in Queensland. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman has won its underpayments case against restaurant chain Sushi Bay and its director, with a judge finding the company forced migrant workers to pay back their entitlements in cash in a “calculated and institutional effort” to conceal wrongdoing. 

In a case believed to be the first of its kind, the liquidators of boiler room trader Forex Capital Trading have sued ASIC, seeking to claw back over $20 million in fines and costs they says constituted unfair preference payments and should be distributed among the company’s out-of-pocket clients. 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has raised concerns about the owner of realestate.com.au acquiring a national forms platform used by real estate agents, saying it could “significantly harm competitors”. 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has taken two units of Paladin Group and one of its directors to court for allegedly raising more than $100 million from 258 investors without a financial services licence.