ACCC bank cartel case collapses

The CDPP has abandoned the criminal cartel case aganst Deutsche and Citibank and the individual defendants. Obviously the CDPP were not able to get their indictment over the line!

Looks like the banks will be going for their legal costs - I reckon they have a fairly good chance given the CDPP could not even file a valid indictment after trying for four years.

https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/accc-bank-cartel-case-collapses-20220211-p59vku

Australian Business Law Review Vol 49, Part 4

 ABLR Vol 49, Part 4 is out and features five excellent contributions:

* Causation in Misuse of Market Power Claims under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) – Katharine Kemp

* Insurance Claims Handling and Settling as a Financial Service after the Banking Royal Commission – Paul Latimer

* The Role of Agency in Competition Law: The Australian Flight Centre Case – Rhonda L Smith and Arlen Duke

* World First: An Australian Court Opens the Door to Inventor Recognition for Artificial Intelligence Systems – Amanda-Jane George (McBratney) and julie-anne tarr

* Climate-related Risk Heating Up Down Under – Jennifer Chambers and Leah Ratcliff

I would again like to encourage prospective authors to consider submitting their articles to the ABLR. One significant advantage of seeking to publish your article in the ABLR is our much quicker turnaround times compared to other leading legal journals. We aim to publish practical business law articles on topical issues in a timely manner, which means we have to operate on shorter time frames.

ACCC Search Warrants Presentation

Check out my ACCC Search Warrants You Tube presentation which provides a practical guide to the legislation, the way in which the ACCC executes search warrants, some practical tips on how to respond and how to prepare for the unfortunate event of being subject to an ACCC search warrant.

I note that whilst the ACCC has only executed 55 search warrants in the period from 2006 (when the power was introduced) to June 2021, there has been a major increase in the ACCC's use of these powers in recent times. In the two year financial period between 2018 and June 2020 just before COVID hit, the ACCC executed 23 search warrants. In other words, 40% of all ACCC search warrants were executed in the last three years with the remaining 60% executed in the 12 year period from 2006 to 2017.

Therefore it seems to me that we can expect a lot more ACCC search warrants in the future once COVID has passed. 

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Mazda Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 1493

ACCC Case note outlining the recent Federal Court decision in ACCC v Mazda Australia Pty Ltd 2021 FCA 1493 concerning consumer guarantees, major failures, misleading and deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct.

ACCC Case Note - Port of Newcastle Operations Pty Limited v Glencore Coal Assets Australia Pty Ltd [2021] HCA 39

ACCC Video Case Note summarising the background to the High Court of Australia decision in Port of Newcastle Operations Pty Limited v Glencore Coal Assets Australia Pty Ltd concerning Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.