February
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones dragged into Super Retail legal saga
An emergency disclosure to Jones about the company’s handling of whistleblower complaints has prompted ASIC to take a closer look.
January
Super funds face full force of new customer service standards
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says superannuation funds should be held to the same standards as banks and other financial services companies.
Trump may retaliate against Labor’s tech levy by doubling expat taxes
Almost 90,000 expats and thousands of Australian companies could see their tax rates doubled unless Labor junks the so-called “news bargaining incentive”.
Meta reversal on political news boosts case for payments
Facebook owner Meta is facing fresh calls to reopen negotiations to pay Australian media outlets for news content.
December 2024
Settlement outage puts ASX in the crosshairs – again
Regulators will review a high-profile failure in the exchange’s settlement systems that hindered millions of trades last week.
The Year of Brilliant Jerks: Rear Window’s year in review
Trump, Ellison, White, Adgemis, Gupta and that Rinehart portrait. For Rear Window, the end of shame and pretense added up to a ripping year of stories.
Labor unveils plan for army of advisers to help Baby Boomers
Labor will attempt to re-write financial advice laws to relax the regulatory requirements that have made advice prohibitively expensive for many.
November 2024
Michelle Levy backs big super, Labor in financial advice fee fight
The Quality of Advice Review chairwoman has backed big super funds and Labor’s bid to allow funds to share the cost of financial advice across their membership bases.
Systemic customer failings in super, says ASIC
The opposition has accused the Albanese government of looking after super funds rather than their members, as ASIC warns more prosecutions are afoot.
Big four partnerships should be capped at 400, inquiry finds
The major consulting firms could also be forced to separate the management of their audit and non-audit practices under recommended changes.
October 2024
Advice reforms to be legislated by May next year: Stephen Jones
The Assistant Treasurer says he is “impatient” to have the next tranche of advice reforms legislated, as super funds push for freedom to give broader advice.
Senior Liberal’s mystery $7000 Singapore trip
The new shadow assistant treasurer declared lavish hospitality by a UAE-based logistics company.
Chartered Accountants demands changes to revised tax agent rules
The accounting body fears that proposed laws to rein in rogue tax agents would erode “the relationship between a taxpayer and their agent”.
September 2024
Blockchain revolution won’t wait for Labor to catch up
Blockchain needs to be regulated properly before more investors take the plunge. Yet, the Albanese government is still missing despite its earlier pledges.
Seven times unlucky beer creditor backs ATO workers’ push for change
When small companies go bust, unsecured creditors end up with very little. A beer can company and the ATO union are unlikely allies in a push to overhaul insolvencies.
Deal struck on laws to rein in rogue tax agents
The government and accounting industry have agreed to new wording for laws to rein in rogue tax agents to quell industry fears they would have to disclose mental health information to clients.
Dud Islamic super fund sidesteps performance tests
APRA’s “heightened supervisory focus” on Crescent has ceased. Not because its performance (as Salaam) has improved, but as a matter of jurisdiction.
Labor shift over crackdown on tax agents
The new stance was announced after a meeting between Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and a coalition of 10 professional associations.
August 2024
Tax agents won’t have to disclose mental health help: government
The government has again denied claims tax agents would have to disclose private mental health information to clients, and is open to tweaking the new laws.
New rules will stop tax agents seeking mental health help: CA ANZ
The claims about new laws designed to rein in rogue tax agents were denied by the government and the chairman of the tax regulator.