By 2031, more than 30 million will call Australia home, and with this forecasted population increase comes significant infrastructure demands. Australia’s infrastructure projects have traditionally been funded via bank or government balance sheets, but this is all set to change.

In mid-2017, Swiss Re, the world’s second largest re-insurance company, announced they had begun to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into their investment decision making processes. By the end of 2017, Swiss Re expects that all investment decisions impacting their entire USD130bn global portfolio will be based on ESG and related ethical factors.

Dominic Emmett and Alexandra Whitby have recently authored the Australia chapter in the International Comparative Legal Guide to: Corporate Recovery & Insolvency 2017.

The Federal Government has released its long-awaited draft legislation to amend the Corporations Act to introduce a ‘safe harbour’ carve out to a director’s personal liability for insolvent trading and a stay on the enforceability of certain ‘ipso facto’ clauses during an administration or scheme of arrangement. Our Restructuring + Insolvency Team dissects what the proposed changes mean for Australian businesses.

Gilbert + Tobin was delighted to be the legal sponsor for the AFR Banking and Wealth Summit, Australia’s premier forum for banking and wealth leaders, regulators, policymakers and stakeholder groups.
 

In the summer issue of Young Lawyers Journal, Banking + Infrastructure lawyer Daniel Yim wrote about the law of change - that is, the challenges and lessons arising from the trend for non-lawyers to perform services traditionally delivered by law firms.

In this downloadable PDF report, a number of Gilbert + Tobin experts review the regulatory aspects relating to the banking industry in Australia.  

Partner Alexander Danne and Senior Lawyer Sachini Mandawala report on recent case developments.

Dominic Emmett and Jessica Arscott provide a detailed analysis of the insolvency and restructuring market in Australia, the key tools and emreging innovative processes for effecting restructures in Australia, as well as an update on the Federal Government's insolvency law reform agenda.

Justice Black has confirmed in his written reasons for judgment in Re Nexus Energy Ltd (subject to deed of company arrangement) [2014] NSWSC 1910 the utility of section 444GA to achieve debt for equity restructures of listed companies.

The recent news concerning the dispute between the receivers for Forge Group Limited and APR Energy over approximately $50 million worth of gas turbines has emphasised the risks for companies involved in the equipment lease business since the introduction of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth)

The G20 financial regulatory reforms initially approved by the IMF in 2010 are slowly being clarified and implemented by the IMF’s member governments. As expected these reforms have been controversial and subject to significant debate and lobbying.