Against the backdrop of the Royal Commission, fintechs and start-ups are presented with significant opportunities to shape new business models while established institutions face the challenge of redesigning their existing commercial strategies and capabilities. With the upcoming advent of the Open Banking regime, there is a growing awareness of the impact this will have on the financial services industry and the importance of digital platforms through which customer data will be accessed.

ASIC has issued an announcement affecting foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) that rely on “passport” class order relief or on “limited connection” relief from the requirement to hold an AFSL. ASIC will be proceeding with the proposal to repeal these relief instruments and implement a new regime which will require FFSPs to apply for a foreign AFSL, the details of which have not yet been announced.

For the first time, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is closing all of its offices (Perth and regional) over the Christmas to New Year period (from Monday, 24 December 2018 to Wednesday, 2 January 2019, both inclusive). Over the counter hard copy transactions will not be possible from Monday, 24 December 2018 to Wednesday, 2 January 2019. Normal services will resume on 3 January 2019.

Welcome to Edition 93 of Boardroom Brief. This is a service specifically targeted at the needs of busy non-executive directors. We aim to give you a “heads up” on the things that matter for NEDs in the week ahead – all in two minutes or less.

This case is a reminder of the potentially devastating commercial consequences of knowingly assisting in breaches of fiduciary duties owed by employees to their former employers to protect business connections and other confidential information.  In this case, the High Court ordered a business to account for its entire capital value of $14.8 million which included both actual and anticipated profits, and profits which may not have been the ‘direct result’ of knowing assistance in the breach.