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Let's talk antitrust: Discussing recent cases and emerging competition issues
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Australia | Publication | 18 October 2019
“Unfortunately, the Banking Royal Commission wasn’t asked to look at the role of insolvency practitioners, and that was a missed opportunity.”
“Often, the investigating accountants become the liquidators, so it’s in their interests to recommend liquidation because they get another gig.”
Kate Carnell, Small Business Ombudsman
Last Thursday on October 10, the Small Business Ombudsman announced a statutory inquiry, to be known as the Insolvency Practices Inquiry, “to investigate if current insolvency practices achieve the best possible outcome for small and family businesses in financial trouble”. It will be assisted by a reference group, chaired by former senator John Williams, who took a lead role in the 2010 senate inquiry into the regulation, registration and remuneration of liquidators.
The terms of reference document issued by the Ombudsman makes it clear that a major focus of the Inquiry will be IPs, the industry standards that govern their practices, their costs, and how practitioners decide the optimal process and manage conflicts of interest said to arise from them “undertaking several stages of an insolvency”.
Significantly, small businesses that have faced financial difficulties and been restructured or wound up are invited to “share their stories” by completing an online survey with the Inquiry. It may be apprehended that selected case studies will then be the subject of detailed examination by the Inquiry.
To assist our clients to understand the Inquiry, in case one or more of their matters becomes the subject of detailed examination, we provide the following short summary:
Terms of reference of Inquiry
The Inquiry will examine the following:
Inquiry’s powers
The Ombudsman has coercive powers under the relevant legislation to require a person to provide information and documents. Legal professional privilege can be claimed and maintained when responding to a statutory notice.
A notice issued by the Ombudsman can require the insolvency practitioner recipient to:
(a) provide a statement to the Inquiry that sets out information identified as relevant to the Inquiry; and/or
(b) produce documents in the IP’s possession relevant to the Inquiry.
It is a punishable offence to fail to comply with the written notice unless the person does not have the information or documents required, or has been unable to obtain the requested information and documents despite taking all reasonable steps available.
The Ombudsman will report on an interim basis in December, with a final report in February 2020.
Video
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Publication
After a lacklustre finish to 2022 when compared to the vintage year for M&A that was 2021, dealmakers expected 2023 to see the market continue to cool in most sectors, in response to the economic headwinds of rising inflation (with its corresponding impact on financing costs), declining market valuations, tightening regulatory scrutiny and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Publication
On 18 September 2023, the CMA published its Initial Report (Initial Report) on AI Foundation Models (FM), supplemented in April 2024 with the publication of its “Update Paper” focused on potential antitrust risks associated with FMs and a “Technical Update Report” providing more detail on the development on FMs (collectively the “Reports”). Below, we consider these CMA publications.
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