K-Line convicted of criminal cartel conduct and fined $34.5 million

The penalty judgment in the K-Line criminal cartel case has come down. K-Line was fined $34.5 million after receiving a discount of 28%. It seems that the discount would have been substantially higher had K-Line provided a higher level of cooperation and not fought the matter through the committal stage . Given that NYK received a 50% discount for cooperating at the earliest opportunity, it looks like K-Line's decision not to provide a high level of cooperation and to fight the committal may have cost it an additional $10.5 million in penalties.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCA//2019/1170.html

SME Committee 2019 Annual Conference

The SME Committee of the Law Council of Australia Business Law Section, in partnership with the Law Institute of Victoria, welcomes you to attend the annual SME Conference on 11 October 2019 in Melbourne.
It is promising to be a great event with lots of fantastic speakers including Professor Allan Fels and Kate Carnell. Click on this link for more information


https://lnkd.in/fjPH3HP

ACCC Independent Reviews and Audits

If you are looking for a compliance professional to conduct a professional and cost effective ACCC Independent Review drop me a line. I have been conducting ACCC Independent Compliance Program Reviews for over 10 years. My clients have included Airbnb, ALDI Stores, Aveling Homes, Dell Computers, InvoCare Limited, LG Electronics, Ozsale, Thermomix and Wilson Security. I also have experience as an ACCC approved independent auditor in relation to: * the Takata Airbag Recall; and * asset divestitures under section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Bingo - Dial-A-Dump merger)

http://www.terceiro.com.au/reviews.html

Samsung in court for misleading phone water resistance advertisements

Samsung has been taken to court by the ACCC for allegedly falsely claiming that their Galaxy phones were water resistant. There is little doubt that if the ACCC are successful in establishing liability in this case they will be going for a huge penalty. Most likely the ACCC will make a play for the 10% of turnover penalty which could be a very big number, given that Samsung Australia generated an annual turnover of $2.67 billion in 2018. Could this be the first multi-million dollar penalty under the Australian Consumer Law?

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/samsung-in-court-for-misleading-phone-water-resistance-advertisements

Special Children's Christmas Party

Happy to be supporting the Special Children's Christmas Party again in 2019. We first started supporting this event eight years ago, in 2011.

Australian Business Law Review Vol 47 Pt 2

Volume 47, Part 2 of the ABLR has just come out. A bunch of excellent articles and section notes: • Selling Printed Goods or Facilitating Printing Gigs: The Redbubble Puzzle – David J Brennan • The 2018 Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct: Epicentre of a Year of Scrutiny for Australian Franchising – Jenny Buchan • Confessions of an Earnest Regulator – Michael T Schaper • Harper Report Implementation Breakdown: Repeal of Section 51(3) of Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and Lack of Proposed Supply/Acquisition Agreement Cartel Exception – Brent Fisse • The Privileges against Self-incrimination and Self-exposure to Penalties in Commercial Litigation: Sadie Ville v Deloitte – Michael Legg and Stephanie Crosbie I suspect folk at the ACCC will be particularly interested in and entertained by the third article "Confessions of an Earnest Regulator" by the former Deputy Chair and Small Business Commissioner of the ACCC, Dr Michael Schaper.

Construction union trio snared in Sydney cocaine bust

While the alleged conduct of the three CFMMEU officials is very serious, of further concern is the Commonwealth Attorney General weighing in with sub judice comments about a pending criminal case for the purpose of scoring some political points. This conduct is entirely inappropriate and ill befitting the role of the Commonwealth's First Law Officer.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/construction-union-trio-snared-in-sydney-cocaine-bust-20190605-p51uub.html