July 2021
Eddie Obeid can remain at Hunters Hill mansion until September
The corrupt former NSW Labor power broker had his bail extended along with son, Moses, and one-time political ally Ian Macdonald.
- Exclusive
- Regulation
Bank of South Pacific chairman breaches tenure limits
Sir Kostas Constantinou has been on the BSP board since 2009, a clear breach of PNG’s prudential standards, and another headache for the embattled bank.
- Breaking
- Corruption
Eddie Obeid found guilty of conspiracy over $30m NSW coal licence
Former NSW Resources Minister Ian Macdonald and Moses Obeid were also found guilty after one of the longest running trials in NSW history.
- Analysis
- Investment banking
UBS can no longer ignore its past misdeeds
If UBS chooses not to engage with the PNG royal commission, it will almost certainly find the $1.3 billion loan was unconstitutional, charged excessive interest and was “false and misleading”.
UBS made $81m in ‘excessive’ profits from PNG loan
A PNG royal commission into the so-called UBS loan affair heard the investment bank lied about its profits and designed an overly complex deal.
NAB and CBA exposed over PNG money laundering
The PNG regulator found dozens of violations of anti-money laundering laws, running to thousands of individual breaches.
June 2021
Former Oil Search boss Peter Botten says UBS ‘greedy’ on fees
The investment bank was singled out for criticism in much-anticipated evidence to PNG’s royal commission into the so-called ‘UBS loan scandal’.
Revealed: PNG lost $576m on UBS loan in under four years
It is the first time the full cost of the 2014 loan has been made public, adding to pressure on UBS and law firm Norton Rose to co-operate with a royal commission.
UBS preyed on ‘poor country like PNG,’ inquiry told
Former Treasurer Don Polye was sacked for refusing to approve the $1.2 billion loan after being given just 40 minutes to look over the documents.
PNG cabinet told $1.2b UBS loan was illegal
A royal commission has heard four senior cabinet ministers opposed the controversial deal and told former PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill it needed to be approved by Parliament.
Oil Search’s ‘odd purchase’ focus of PNG royal commission
The inquiry has been told Oil Search paid four times more for a gas field in PNG than French giant Total just three months earlier.
- Exclusive
- Big four
NAB, CBA face money laundering probe
An investigation in Papua New Guinea is set to cause problems for two of Australia’s biggest banks.
Norton Rose under fire for withholding documents
The PNG inquiry into the $1.2 billion “UBS loan scandal” has been frustrated by a refusal to hand over documents to a royal commission.
May 2021
Backlash against China wine tariffs hits local players
A list of 41 Australian wineries supposedly “Chinese-owned” sparked a torrent of racist emails and cancelled orders for a group already suffering from tariffs and lockdowns.
New AGL chairman under pressure over PNG royal commission
The PNG commission has been frustrated by Oil Search and Norton Rose refusing to hand over documents into a $1.2 billion UBS loan.
- Analysis
- Foreign relations
Indonesia approaches boundary dispute very differently from Australia
There appears to be a large gap in how Canberra and Jakarta view the revisions required to the maritime border agreement.
- Exclusive
- Oil
Indonesia pushes to reopen fractious maritime border talks
Oil and gas giants Woodside, Santos and Japan’s INPEX could be hit by any move to redraw the Timor Sea boundary.
April 2021
Less than 20 years after independence, Timor-Leste is running on fumes
When Timor-Leste won independence in 2002 the belief was it had petroleum reserves to last generations, but the money is running out much earlier than expected.
Norton Rose pressed to hand files to UBS royal commission
The top-tier law firm is resisting handing over its files relating to a $1.2 billion loan extended by UBS Australia to Papua New Guinea.
- Exclusive
- White collar crime
Feds junk plans to unmask nominee directors
Australia committed twice to creating a publicly available beneficial ownership register, but has now walked away from the plan.