The latest issue of the Australian Business Law Review (Volume 40 Part 1) contains the following material:

EDITORIAL

Articles

Theoretical justifications for restraining “unconscionable” demands under on-demand guarantees – Thanuja Rodrigo

Whilst English courts have adopted “fraud” on the part of the beneficiary calling under the guarantee as the sole ground upon which the enforcement of on-demand guarantees can be restrained, the Australian courts have adopted “unconscionability” as a separate ground from that of “fraud” for restraining the enforcement of such guarantees. Drawing upon the doctrine of “freedom of contract” and principles of “cost-benefit” in economics this article provides theoretical justifications for the Australian court’s divergence from the English law principles in matters restraining demands under on-demand guarantees.

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The Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reforms put bounty on corporate non-compliance: Ramifications and lessons for Australia – Nicholas Mavrakis and Michael Legg

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act introduced into United States law new whistleblower reforms to encourage the reporting of breaches of the United States securities laws. The reforms controversially included monetary incentives or bounties to report illegal conduct to the Securities Exchange Commission. The article explains the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reforms and examines the concerns raised by public companies and directors that internal compliance mechanisms may be undermined by the bounty provisions. The article also explains how the whistleblower reforms may have extra-territorial operation and allow for the reporting of conduct in Australia so that American subsidiaries or Australian entities dealing with American public companies also need to consider how they should respond to the new laws. The first annual report on the whistleblower reforms which only covered seven weeks discloses that three tips (9.4% of overseas tips) have already come from Australia. Lastly, the article compares the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower reforms with the Australian equivalent in Pt 9.4AAA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to examine if there are any lessons for Australian corporate regulation.

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Sections

BANKING AND FINANCE – Paul Ali

  • New national responsible lending obligations – Pt 2 – Bruce Taylor

COMPANY LAW AND SECURITIES – Robert Baxt AO

  • The corporate law scene in 2012 – Trouble for directors, greater power to the regulator, even more legislation and regulation, and much more litigation – Robert Baxt AO

COMPETITION LAW AND MARKET REGULATION – Stephen Corones

  • Will there be a change in the review of mergers by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after the Metcash decision? – Robert Baxt AO

For the pdf version of the table of contents, click here: ABLR Vol 40 Pt 1 Contents.