Regulators

A judge has ordered National Australia Bank to pay just one-fifth the $10 million penalty proposed by ASIC for overcharging customer fees, taking aim at the regulator’s concise pleading and saying the maximum penalty he could order was “woefully inadequate”.

The Australian arm of coffee giant Starbucks has backpaid part-time workers across 52 stores $4.5 million, after discovering it failed to pay proper overtime rates.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has brought proceedings against EnergyAustralia for allegedly misleading consumers when notifying them of changes to electricity prices. 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not sign off on Transurban’s plan to acquire a majority stake in fellow toll road operator Horizon Roads, finding the deal would likely reduce competition for toll road concessions in Victoria.

The corporate regulator has brought proceedings against the Australian arm of Kraken Crypto Exchange, alleging it breached design and distribution obligations for a margin trading product that has lost customers almost $13 million.

The competition regulator has again raised concerns about how a planned acquisition by Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour Group could affect competition in a local market for takeaway liquor. In a statement of issues released Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission expressed preliminary worries that Endeavour’s purchase of the Rye Hotel on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula…

Victims of privacy breaches must demonstrate actual loss and damage to be eligible for compensation, according to a judge who has given asylum seekers who secured a ruling from the Privacy Commissioner a second chance at proving loss from the public disclosure of their personal information.

The High Court has granted defunct online educator Captain Cook College special leave to appeal a finding that it engaged in systemic unconscionable conduct by enrolling thousands of unsuitable students, who accrued $60 million in debt but never finished their courses. 

A New South Wales developer’s argument that the Full Court was “plainly wrong” to dismiss the ACCC’s competition case against NSW Ports over the privatisation of two ports is destined for the High Court, a judge has heard. 

In the latest setback for Qantas, the ACCC has said it intends to deny the embattled airline’s bid to coordinate operations with China Eastern Airlines on flights between Australian and China in light of competition concerns.