Regulators

Mail order company Magnamail has denied allegations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it sent false or misleading promotional material implying customers were eligible for major prizes if they ordered from its catalogues. 

A judge has questioned whether Macquarie Financial should get 70 per cent of an interim $102 million distribution to people who sank their retirement savings into Keystone’s Shield Master Fund, which is being investigated for misuse of investor funds.

Defunct forex broker Union Standard and its former agents have been hit with a combined $300.2 million penalty for “egregious” contraventions, including deliberately pushing risky derivative contracts onto inexperienced investors.

Lendlease has dropped KPMG as its auditor, after it was revealed under parliamentary privilege that the firm misused the developer's confidential client data. 

The Fair Work Commission has rejected Japanese company Inpex’s urgent application to halt industrial action at its Darwin Ichthys onshore and offshore facilities, saying the company failed to prove the action would significantly disrupt the economy. 

A lawyer for ASIC has told a judge that $300 million in Shield Master Fund investments intended for property developments appear to have been diverted for other purposes.

Oral care company Hismile has paid $138,600 in penalties after the consumer watchdog issued it with seven infringement notices over alleged false and misleading social media advertisements.

A shipping and logistics company that services remote communities in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland has amended its contracts with remote customers, after the ACCC expressed concerns about anti-competitive clauses. 

Children’s charity The Smith Family will pay $5.9 million to hundreds of underpaid workers following an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has found telco Optus failed to protect the data of customers whose personal information was listed in the White Pages after they sought an unlisted number.