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.
In this Edition, we consider ASIC’s recent Market Integrity Update, its issuance of an infringement notice concerning a breach of continuous disclosure obligations, the Treasury’s consultation on supervisory levies and the introduction of a bill into Parliament requiring further monitoring of ASIC and APRA. In addition, we consider the recent bitcoin crash and what the future holds for cryptocurrency.
GOVERNANCE & REGULATION
ASIC issues May 2021 Market Integrity Update. ASIC’s Market Integrity Update
ASIC imposes penalty for breach of continuous disclosure obligations following media interview media release
LEGAL
Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bills introduced into Parliament. Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bill 2021 (Cth) Financial Regulator Assessment Authority (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2021 (Cth) FRAA Bills
OVER THE HORIZON
Bitcoin has crashed but is digital still the future? Cryptocurrency investors have been left reeling after the price of cryptocurrency’s poster child, Bitcoin, plummeted up to 31% last Wednesday morning, before recovering in the afternoon. Bitcoin’s decline was prompted by Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla would not accept Bitcoin as payment and was solidified as China banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing cryptocurrency transaction services. While Bitcoin has been the subject of hundreds of premature “obituaries” over the last decade, only time will tell whether its volatility will undermine cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology altogether. This seems unlikely, as “decentralised finance” applications based on that technology surge in popularity, affecting everything from stock trading to foreign exchange, micro-lending and energy trading.