ASIC takes Cbus to Court

G’day.

Welcome to Point Blank.

Silly season is soon near, with Christmas trees standing tall in firm lobbies across the country – reigniting the debate: is it too early for the tree? Don’t be a Grinch; trees can go up, but let’s give Mariah Carey another month…? 

Today’s brief:

• ASIC targets super funds

• US firm profits are up, $115k Christmas bonuses ready

• MinRes closes lithium mine

 💼 Practice Points

• ASIC is dragging Cbus to court, claiming the super fund breached its Corps Act duties to act efficiently, honestly, and fairly. Cbus allegedly took months to process death and disability claims—some members waited over a year for payouts. Meanwhile, ACCC and NDIS are teaming up to spot misleading ads from NDIS providers, concerned that participants could be left with large personal debts for goods and services wrongly advertised as covered by NDIS funding.

• The Coalition has confirmed it won’t block the Albo government’s merger reforms after some smooth talking from the ACCC. Here’s a quick rundown of the reforms:

  • Deals that wouldn’t usually be flagged—like acquisitions by large companies with no competitive overlap—now fall under ACCC scrutiny.

  • Transactions with no competition issues can get a 15-business-day fast track, but complex deals could still take months.

  • The ACCC gains more power to block mergers, but the appeal process will be quicker and cheaper—expect more appeals.

• “Complexity makes enforcement tough,” says ASIC chair Joe Longo. That’s why he wants to slash the red tape tying up Australia’s regulatory system. Longo launched a taskforce to simplify the “legislative porridge” that is our entangled regulatory regime – the feds pass between 150 to 200 bills each year. Kicking off in 2025, the simplification taskforce features consumer advocates and business leaders and will cut through complexity to boost productivity, protect consumer rights, and make compliance straightforward.

🏘️ Word on the Street 

• Sparke Helmore nabs new insurance partner from Clyde & Co. David Kerwin will join Sparke Helmore’s Brisbane team.

• US law firm profits soared in 2024, with an 11.2% increase in Q3. Higher lawyer productivity, strong billing rates and relatively modest increases in expenses suggest that 2024 will be a highly profitable year for firms, says Thomson Reuters.

• With any election upset, the response usually goes, “It's the economy, stupid”. But when employees seek out competitors, is the response “It’s remuneration, stupid”? Milbank wants to test the lure of year-end bonuses for lawyers. The firm will hand out bonuses ranging from $15k pro-rated for its first-year associates to $115k for senior associates. That’s on top of the $225k to $435k base associates get at Milbank, depending on their seniority. Sadly, Milbank doesn’t have an Australian office…

📢 Talking Points

• Mali junta is demanding Resolute Mining pay about $160m to resolve a tax dispute after the government detained the Australian gold producer’s chief executive last week.

• After Justice Michael Lee pushed for more media scrutiny of suppression orders, Federal Court Chief Justice Mortimer stepped in to defend their use. “Open justice is not open slather”, she said, emphasising that while transparency is crucial, it must be balanced with fairness to the parties and witnesses involved.

• Legal tech boosts productivity for "digitally mature teams", with 94% reporting high efficiency. But there’s a catch—it is also linked to higher stress and burnout. 36% of teams say stress levels are up, and a whopping 73% are actively job hunting. Looks like the tech's working, but at what cost?

• Trump’s got the Republican trifecta locked in—control of the White House, Senate, and House. With this unified grip on government, the GOP can push through Trump’s agenda and fend off moves to rein in his power. But the Trinity is not without its gaps as the Republicans raise eyebrows at Trump’s attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz. GOP legislators first thought it was a joke before reports circulated.

🏦 The Treasury

🤝 Deal Room

• Three suitors—Yancoal, Stanmore Coal, and Peabody Energy—are all eyeing Anglo American's steelmaking coal assets as the Wednesday bid deadline looms. Yancoal leads the pack on price, but there's a catch: China still hasn't given the green light. Peabody’s got the drive, but after a recent bankruptcy, the big question is whether they’ve got the financial muscle to pull it off. Meanwhile, Stanmore’s playing it cool, sticking to a conservative price after forking out $2.5bn earlier this year for South 32's Illawarra assets.

• Genesis made its "best and final" offer, but Pacific Smiles isn’t biting. Despite the sweetened deal, Pacific Smiles is sticking to its guns, pointing to a strong trading update and upbeat forward guidance as reasons to hold firm.

• Amsterdam’s Schiphol Group is eyeing an expansion down under, reportedly circling North Queensland Airports Group with a $3bn price tag. Bids are expected post-Christmas.

🏗 Sector Specific

Diggers

• MinRes’s Bald Hill mine has become another casualty of the relentless lithium winter, with the company announcing the operation will shift to care and maintenance. That’s 300 jobs on the chopping block.

• MinRes has also done a swift 180 on its earlier claim that the Ellison tax scandal didn’t need to be disclosed because it wasn’t "price sensitive”, fessing up that tax avoidance scheme involved related party transactions and should have been disclosed to the ASX after all.

• Class action firm Pogust Goodhead is urging 600k claimants to steer clear of BHP’s $45bn compensation scheme for the Samarco dam disaster. The warning comes after the $70bn class action launched against BHP in the UK, with Pogust arguing the Brazilian settlement undercuts claimants’ chances for a larger payout if the British case succeeds.

Fin

• Platinum Asset Management just took a second strike on its pay report, with 72% of shareholders voting against it at the AGM. Last year’s protest vote already put the board on notice over underperformance, and now, shareholders are doubling down on their discontent.

• After a year-long battle, Peter White has been named as the EY partner fired for allegedly pocketing $70k in secret commissions via illicit tax schemes for seven high-net-worth clients. White tried to block the Tax Commissioner from accessing his communications by claiming privilege—but that move largely fell flat.

• Overnight, CBA briefly overtook globally connected HSBC in market value, landing itself in the world’s top 10 banks.

Tech

• Is it time to start that YouTube channel? Well, Spotify is launching a new creator monetisation program in Australia to pay creators for videos published to its premium subscribers. Starting next year, the move is poised to lure more talent from competing platforms, such as YouTube. Podcasters posting videos are up 60%, podcast listeners are up 13%, and hey even Spotify shares are up 11% overnight.

• WiseTech faces a shareholder class action for misleading conduct and breaching its continuous disclosure obligations. WiseTech inflated the forecasted performance of 40 companies it acquired. Turns out, those companies didn’t quite live up to WiseTech’s lofty forecasts.

• Samsung Electronics, which has a big Chinese customer base, saw its shares drop to a 4-year low on Wednesday as investors worry over the potential fallout from US tariffs under a new Trump administration.

Retail & Real Estate

• ALDI is sticking to its guns on price, refusing to join Coles and Woolies in the online grocery race. Execs told an ACCC inquiry that online delivery would drive up costs, threatening Aldi’s status as the cheapest supermarket. While Coles and Woolies push convenience, ALDI said the focus remains firmly on value. The move isn’t permanent, but for now, Aldi is all about lean operations and low costs. The ACCC report due next year could add more spice to the price war.

• Treasury Wine Estates (ASX: TWE) is pressing ahead with plans to offload its sub-$10 commercial wine portfolio as it shifts focus to premium and luxury lines. According to Mergermarket, Bidders are already sniffing around, with private equity player Allegro Funds reportedly interested, while Taylor Wines is eyeing the opportunity but hasn’t gone all in. The sale, which includes brands like Wolf Blass and Lindeman’s, aims to cut bulk volume for better margins and tighten TWE’s spotlight on high-value vintages.

PS.