-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2008
Looking after directors’ OH&S
The harmonisation of Australia’s occupational health and safety (OH&S) laws has long been debated, but finally state governments have agreed to consider the issue by looking at model legislation. The Council of Australian Governments has endorsed the initiative...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2008
Christian Witting
investigates whether the law requires more from some directors than others.
Different strokes for different folks
In recent years, lawyers have debated the standards of care that apply to various company directors under section 180(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 and th...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2008
Jason Howard
cautions that companies need to check their D&O cover as they expand offshore.
A litigious multinational environmentA key development in Australia’s changing corporate landscape has been rapid global expansion, both through organic growth and by acquisition. Although ...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2008
Maurice Baroni
provides a sneak preview of the new Government’s plans for OH&S laws.
What’s ahead for OH&S
In the lead-up to the 2007 Federal election, Julia Gillard, as Labor’s then shadow minister for industrial relations, promised that a Rudd Government would make ...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2008
A surge in class actions can be expected this year. Anne Lampe reports on this shifting minefield for directors and companies.
The shifting battle ground
2008 is shaping up as the year that will be remembered by class action lawyers for vapourising any leisure time they hoped to have.
An entre...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2008
Zilla Efrat
chats to KPMG Australian chairman Michael Andrew about why Australia’s director talent pool is shrinking.
Plugging the director drain
Australia’s director talent pool is shrinking, fuelling concerns about the future of our capital markets. H...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2008
Sensible checks and balances
A presentation to an AICD luncheon in Sydney late last year by the new chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Tony D’Aloisio, was interesting on a number of levels. D’Aloisio referred to the work that ASIC is doing in the area of retail ...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2008
Geoff Stevens
provides some guidance through the complex maze of director guarantees.
Don’t get tripped up by guaranteesAs a director, you will often be requested to provide guarantee support for your company’s obligations. This can be in the context of financial accommodation from a fina...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2007
Ian Wightwick
proposes some basic principles to help directors and senior officers trading in their company’s shares avoid any accusations of privileged insider knowledge.
Should you ever trade in your company shares?
Controversy continues to surround if and when directors and senior office...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2007
A look at why full IFRS isn’t suited to SMEs.
Battling the IFRS burden on SMEs
The transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has caused concern for many Australian companies. There are new accounting mandates to comply with and, in general, the application of IFRS for...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Sep 2007
Letters to the Editor
A number of issues raised in the article, ‘A National Scheme in the Making’ (Company Director, July 2007), require clarification.
The article suggests Comcare provides a licensee with the option of insurance or self insurance. This is not the case. The...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2007
Do the numbers add up? If you are not sure, then it may be time to brush up on your financial literacy.
Learning the language of numbers
Standards for financial literacy, just like language literacy, tend to rely a lot on who is doing the judging. However, when it comes to reading the figures,...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2007
Mark Parris explains why the shifting climate in the D&O market makes now a great time to re-negotiate your cover.
D&O’s climate change
Smart directors will take advantage of the current soft cycle in the D&O insurance market to ensure that they have insurance protection which p...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2007
A record number of ASIC prosecutions
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) has revealed that it was involved in a record number of prosecutions in the financial year to June 2007.
During the 12 months, it successfully prosecuted 561 company officers for 1,133 contraventions o...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jul 2007
US investor Warren Buffett has said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Here, Peter Keel outlines how a tarnished reputation can hurt a company and its directors and offers some tips on how to do things differ...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2007
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) recently commenced civil proceedings against a number of former directors and former executives of James Hardie. This case will undoubtedly raise – and hopefully answer – many questions in relation to directors’ duties and responsibilities. ...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2007
Letters to the editor
The Alinta management buyout raises important issues about conflict of interest and the fiduciary duty. The standing aside/resignation by directors and others involved in the management buyout during the event did not alter the account of what was still in progress and their i...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2007
Michael Hughes, a partner at Minter Ellison, outlines how directors of Australian subsidiary companies can be confronted with stark challenges when an overseas parent company becomes insolvent.
Protecting your reputation and assets
A global corporation typically will operate in Australia throu...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2006
Maurice Baroni, senior associate workplace relations at Clayton Utz, discusses a landmark case in NSW that threatens to change directors’ liabilities under OHS regulations. It could also set a precedent for directors in other states.
A wake-up call for directors
A key question of liability tha...
-
Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2006
A common pitfall for directors with D&O insurance policies is that they do not realise they are not covered for a particular event until they try to claim. Emilios Kyrou, partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, identifies some undesirable gaps in D&O insurance policies and suggests how to overcom...