Australia

Recent Articles

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  28/11/2024

  International

  CMS’s insights on COP29 themes

  The discussions at COP29 Azerbaijan show how difficult it is to achieve global environmental goals. CMS lawyers have been reflecting on the themes of the conference in short videos and articles, housed on the CMS COP29 hub.A summary of CMS’s coverage is below and if you’d like to hear directly from the CMS COP29 delegates, now home from Baku, please join their discussion on Friday 29 November by registering here: CMS at COP29 online sessionBridgett Majola reflects on the need to align climate finance contributions with global needs and the current situation in Africa.Munir Hassan discusses...

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  25/11/2024

  International

  Pre-hedging: IOSCO publishes delayed Consultation Report

  On 21 November 2024, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) published a consultation paper in response to concerns about the appropriateness of pre-hedging practices raised by various market participants, standard setters and national and supra-national authorities. In short, pre-hedging is the well-established practice by which dealers in certain markets look to hedge their exposure to anticipated client orders for a number of reasons, including to enable the dealer to take on the risk of the client order once confirmed, and to offer a competitive price.BackgroundEuropean...

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  19/11/2024

  International

  ESG update: transition planning, sustainability disclosures and enforcement

  A lot has happened in the world of ESG over the last few weeks. We have seen important announcements from the UK Government, the conclusion of COP16 and the ongoing COP29 (which you can read about here, here and here). We have also seen some important updates from the UK, EU, US and international bodies relating to transition planning, sustainability disclosures and enforcement action in respect of corporate reporting. We discuss some of these developments below.A. Transition Planning1. TPT publishes final reportOn 25 October 2024, the Transition Plan Taskforce (“TPT”) – which...

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  08/11/2024

  International

  COP16 – some breakthroughs made, but key issues left unresolved

  2 November 2024 marked the conclusion of the 16th meeting of the conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (the “Convention”) in Cali, Columbia (“COP16”). Over 23,000 representatives from governments, civil society and businesses attended COP16 - a record number for a biodiversity conference – which is a testament to the increasing importance being attributed to mitigating the risks associated with biodiversity loss. Much was expected of COP16, but despite some positive breakthroughs on using genetic resources and representation of indigenous...

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  07/11/2024

  Australia

  Australia’s Cyber Security Bill 2024: A New Era of Digital Defence

  The Australian government has introduced the country’s first standalone cybersecurity law to Parliament – the Cyber Security Bill 2024 (the “Cyber Security Bill”), representing a significant step towards bolstering the nation’s cyber defences and aligning with international best practices.Key Provisions of the Cyber Security BillA. Mandatory Cyber Security Standards for Smart DevicesOne of the cornerstone initiatives of the Cyber Security Bill is the introduction of mandatory security standards for Internet of Things devices. These standards are designed to ensure...

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  04/11/2024

  Australia

  Australia seeks views on AI within Consumer Law

  The Australian Government has released a discussion paper seeking public feedback from 15 October 2024 to 12 November 2024 (“Discussion Paper”) regarding the interaction between the Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”) and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) enabled goods and services.The Discussion Paper seeks feedback on the following:The effectiveness of the ACL in protecting Australian consumers and businesses from potential consumer law risks associated with AI-enabled goods and services;The application of the ACL principles to AI-enabled goods and services;The remedies...

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