Australian Business Law Review, Vol 48, Part 4

 ABLR Vol 48, Part 4 has just come out. This time five excellent articles on a wide range of legal issues - the duties of superannuation trustees, tax reform, goodwill restraints of trade, copyright site-blocking and national security and foreign investment regulation. I really enjoyed putting this edition together.

* Might Superannuation Trustees Owe a Duty to Merge? – Scott Donald

* The Challenges of Industrial Revolutions: Luddism and Tax Reform – Kerrie Sadiq and Bronwyn McCredie

* The Frontiers of Restraint of Trade Litigation Protecting Goodwill: Policy, Principles and Practice – Michael Tamvakologos

* From Little Things Big Things Grow: Australia’s Evolving Copyright Site-Blocking Regime – Cheryl Foong and Joanne (Jo) Gray

* The Australian and United States Approaches to National Security and Foreign Investment Regulation – Nicholas Felstead

I am also pleased to announce a new ABLR Section to be entitled “Taxation Law and Practice” to be headed up by Prashanth Kainthaje, Tax Partner with John Winter & Slattery. I look forward to working with Prashanth in making the new Taxation Law and Practice Section a success.

Australian Business Law Review, Vol 48, Part 3

 Part 3 has just come out. Again, lots of excellent articles and Section Notes. The legal areas covered in this edition include the proposed mandatory repair scheme, franchising law, fair work bargaining, corporations law, and competition law.

* The Mandatory Repair Scheme for Motor Vehicles 2019: Australia’s First Response to the International Right to Repair Movement? – Leanne Wiseman, Kanchana Kariyawasam and Lucas Davey

* Working for the Brand: The Regulation of Employment in Franchise Systems in Australia – Tess Hardy

* Fair Work Bargaining for Police: A Proposal for Reform – Giuseppe Carabetta

* Are the “Efficiently, Honestly and Fairly” and Unconscionable Conduct Civil Penalty Provisions Equally as Effective in Combating Unfair Practices By Licensees? – Jessica Zarkovic

* Natural Meaning Equals Natural Monopoly: New Declaration Criteria for Access to Services under the Competition and Consumer Act – Michael Gvozdenovic

* ASIC v King – The High Court Clarifies Who Is an “Officer” of a Corporation Jennifer Chambers, Michael Legg and Lindsay Stankovic

Thanks to all the authors and referees for their hard work in getting this edition together pretty much on time.

Marketing fund statements: three things to get right

I was bit frustrated to get this email from the ACCC about the importance of franchisors making sure that they send out their marketing statements to franchisees on time, given my recent experiences with the ACCC.

I wrote to the ACCC on behalf of a whilstleblower in late 2018 to advise that a well known national franchisor had failed to send out any marketing statements to any franchisees for approximately 10 years. I provided the ACCC with some fairly compelling internal company documents to support the allegations.

After a 18 month investigation, the ACCC advised us that it had decided not to take any action against the franchisor in relation to approximately 10 years of contraventions because the franchisor had decided to start complying with the law from 2017.

I have to say that there is an appalling lack of consistency in some of the ACCC's enforcement decision making.

https://mailchi.mp/accc.gov.au/marketing-fund-statements-three-things-to-get-right?e=6c0b55cb44