Blue Sky Alternatives Access Fund secures control of bank account

Listed spinoff of Blue Sky Alternative Investments (ASX: BLA) the Alternatives Access Fund (ASX: BAF) has confirmed it is solvent and now separate from its parent as BLA falls into receivership. Last week, the directors of BAF took steps to secure control of the bank account holding in excess of $29 million by placing a stop on the accoun...

Blue Sky's Alternative Access Fund cuts supply to mothership

Last week, embattled investment fund Blue Sky (ASX: BLA) announced it was not going to meet the terms of a $50 million loan from US-based Oaktree Capital Management. A heavy-handed approach has been the response from the company's Alternative Access Fund (ASX: BAF), which has opted to cut supply to its parent while it considers t...

IPO pushed back for Australian Family Lawyers

Offers for a backdoor listing of Melbourne-headquartered Australian Family Lawyers (AFL) have been extended by almost a month while the company undertakes discussions with the ASX. A reverse takeover of Navigator Resources (ASX: NAV) was approved by shareholders in April with expectations the IPO would raise $6.5 million by the time ...

TPG and Vodafone to file legal action against ACCC

Following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ('ACCC') decision to oppose the $15 billion merger between Vodafone (ASX: HTA) and TPG (ASX: TPM) both telcos have committed to taking on the watchdog in court. In an ASX statement late yesterday afternoon TPG says that it intends on challenging the watchdog's ...

ACCC opposes Vodafone and TPG merger

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ('ACCC') has announced that it will block the merger between telecommunications giants TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) and Vodafone (ASX: HTA), saying the merger would lessen competition.  The consumer watchdog inadvertently published a statement online this afternoon stating that the...

Retail Food Group backflips on use-by date extensions

Following an exposé by The Sydney Morning Herald the parent company behind Michel's Patisserie has backflipped on its internal decision to extend use-by dates on food products. As reported by The SMH Retail Food Group (ASX: RFG) instructed Michel's franchisees to ignore expiry dates on packaging and adopt new shelf-life dat...

Financial impact of LandMark White cyber attack revealed

The data beach of listed property valuation group LandMark White has hurt the company's revenue by up to $7 million. The company has revealed today the full extent of the breach on the group's bottom line, plus the significant cost of making sure this type of cyber-attack does not happen again. The company says the breach, whi...

Taxi drivers take on Uber in large scale class action

It might be the biggest class action Australia has ever seen as Maurice Blackburn gears up to take on ride-sharing giant Uber. The law firm is acting on behalf of thousands of taxi, hire car, charger vehicle, and limousine drivers across the country to "hold Uber accountable for destroying their livelihoods". The case has be...

How to protect your business from the threat of e-fraud

Cash flow is the life blood of any business, but managing it can be difficult. According to Westpac and Deloitte, small businesses in Australia are spending up to one working day every week chasing invoices that's a lot of time. During that tunnel-vision slog, where business owners become buried headfirst in processes and manageme...

Australian businesses lose $7.2 million from email scams in 2018

Email scams hit Australian businesses more than 5800 times in 2018, with losses exceeding $7.2 million according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ('ACCC'). The ACCC's Targeting Scams report details how sophisticated email scams hit Australian businesses at a 53 per cent increase compared to 2017. This ...

Smiles Inclusive takes founder Mike Timoney to court

Divided dental company Smiles Inclusive (ASX: SIL) has commenced legal proceedings against beleaguered founder Mike Timoney (pictured) alleging serious misconduct and breaches of the law. The action follows the substantial completion of an interim investigation into the conduct of the ousted former CEO who remains on the board along with ...

ACCC takes Bupa to court for allegedly rorting elderly residents of thousands of dollars

Bupa has come under fire from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly charging elderly residents thousands of dollars for services they never provided. The ACCC says Bupa Aged Care Australia made false or misleading representations to its aged care residents in 21 homes about services it did not provide or ...

ACCC takes iSelect to court over its allegedly misleading comparison tool

Comparison service iSelect has wound up in court after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that its energy plan comparison service was misleading. The watchdog alleges that since November 2016 iSelect has claimed consumers using its website would benefit from iSelect comparing all plans available from its par...

Zuckerberg calls for more regulation over the Internet

Facebook has clearly grown bigger than founder Mark Zuckerberg ever imagined. In just a few short years he's gone from Silicon Valley darling to the scapegoat for the world's ills. He copped the brunt of the blame for Brexit and Trump, and more recently has received a fair share of criticism for Facebook's handling of the ...

ACCC gives IPH acquisition of Xenith the green light

The likelihood of an intellectual property giant materialising in Australia is edging closer after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) delivered its blessing. Though shareholders have the option of choosing who IP firm Xenith will partner up with, the ACCC has said that it will not oppose IPH Limited's proposed a...

Slater & Gordon slated over "We win cases like yours"

Eaglegate Lawyers principal Nicole Murdoch has no objection to one of two recent trademark applications Slater & Gordon (ASX: SGH) has made with IP Australia. The mark reads "Slater + Gordon. We win cases like yours", and that's fair enough according to Murdoch. After all, it would make no sense for any law firm to ...

Xenith rebuffs IPH takeover bid

The board of intellectual property company Xenith (ASX: XIP) is not impressed by a 9 per cent lift in IPH's (ASX: IPH) takeover offer, and will press on with another merger in the works.  In an announcement today the group concluded IPH had not presented a superior offer to the merger deal underway with QANTM Intel...

Red Bubble off the hook in Hells Angels copyright case

A website that allows independent artists to sell print on demand (POD) designs online has avoided hefty damages after the Federal Court of Australia ruled in its favour in a copyright case brought by Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. The bikie gang was suing Melbourne-based Redbubble (ASX: RBL) for publishing Hells Angels tradema...

Class action looms for IOOF

While Australia's prudential watchdog takes action against IOOF (ASX: IFL) directors and executives over alleged misconduct, the wealth manager is about to face another legal battle. Sydney-based law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced today it planned to file a class action against IOOF, arising from evidence given a...

IPH threatens QANTM-Xenith merger with counterbid

Intellectual property company IPH (ASX: IPH) is upping the ante in its courtship of Xenith (ASX: XIP), putting in a higher takeover bid it claims will bring greater value than a merger in the works with QANTM Intellectual Property (ASX: QIP). Xenith knocked back IPH's $1.80 per share offer in November, opting instead for an all-scrip ...

Clayton Utz, AMP cave in to ASIC's 'fees for no service' notes demand

After months of withholding notes from interviews of current and former AMP representatives, law firm Clayton Utz has finally coughed up documents requested by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The notes formed the basis for Clayton Utz's October 2017 report on on fees for no service (FFNS) that was consider...

ASIC swoops on GetSwift with civil proceedings

GetSwift (ASX: GSW) and its directors Bane Hunter and Joel Macdonald are once again in the firing line. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has today launched civil proceedings against GetSwift in the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne. The proceedings relate to a series of ASX announcements made by GetSwif...

One of Jenny Hutson's lieutenants has pleaded guilty to giving false info to ASIC

Mary-Anne Graves, one of the board members of Wellington Capital involved in Jenny Hutson and G8 Education's failed takeover of Affinity Education, has pleaded guilty before the Brisbane Magistrates' Court. Graves was charged with three counts of giving false or misleading information under oath in June 2016, and today plead guilt...

LandMark White in trading halt following fallout from data breach

Property valuer LandMark White (ASX: LMW) has gone into a trading halt pending a statement regarding the fallout from a data breach that occurred on 4 February 2019. The company said at the time that a data set containing property valuation and some personal contact information was disclosed because of a vulnerability in one of LMW's ...

Qantas' acquisition of Alliance Airlines up in the air

Qantas (ASX: QAN) has announced that it has purchased a 19.9 per cent stake in regional charter flight operator Alliance Airlines (ASX: AQZ), but the deal could still be undone. Shares in Alliance have soared on the back of Qantas' transaction, with shares up 12.61 per cent to $2.59 per share before noon AEDT. However, the investm...

Slow Internet with the NBN? You might be eligible for a refund

The ACCC is urging NBN customers with slow connection speeds to contact their provider as they may be eligible for a refund. Over the last 15 months Telstra, Optus, TPG, iiNet, Internode, Dodo, iPrimus and Commander have each admitted that they likely made false or misleading representations about the connection speeds NBN customers could...

Ultra Tune faces $2.6m penalty for breaching Franchising Code

Australia's second largest independent motor repair organisation Ultra Tune is in hot water after failing to act in good faith in its dealings with a prospective franchisee. The company has been fined $2.6m for breaching both the Franchise Code of Conduct and Australian Consumer law and ordered to pay back a $33,000 deposit which it f...

Black Friday buoys Australian retail but online continues to dominate

Australia's wholehearted embrace of the American Thanksgiving tradition Black Friday has paid off for our retailers, but it's online where shoppers continue to flock. The highly anticipated ABS data on retailing for November 2018 proved to be more positive than expected, with turnover up 0.4 per cent in November 2018. Pundits pred...

ACCC preliminary report slams unfettered dominance of Facebook and Google

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has today released its most scathing assessment of how American tech giants are impacting the Australian market, particularly the news and advertising sectors. The regulator released a preliminary report containing 11 preliminary recommendations and eight areas for further analysis...

ACCC takes on TPG for retaining millions from allegedly misleading conduct

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is hoping to secure compensation for TPG customers after the telco allegedly misled consumers about a "prepayment" fee. The ACCC alleges that TPG misled customers about a $20 "prepayment" made by consumers and that the telco included unfair prepayment contract t...