BHP dam case twist

Are you more productive WFH?

December 19, 2024

G’day.

Welcome to Point Blank.

Today’s brief:

  • Brazilian towns drop out of the UK BHP dam case after a hefty settlement.

  • Honda and Nissan discuss a potential mega-merger to take on Telsa.

  • You’re likely more productive working from home…here’s why.

🎄 It’s our second-last day as we approach the Christmas break.

But before we sign off, here are some things worth knowing👇

 💼 Practice Points

  • The government is rolling out a new public tax reporting regime, forcing certain large multinationals to disclose country-by-country tax details—yes, including the tax info of their foreign parents. This data will then be made available to the public on an Australian government website. The new rules target both Australian-headquartered multinational groups and foreign-owned ones with Australian operations earning $10m or more in turnover. The onus is on the reporting parent to get this info to the ATO and they will face up to $825k in penalties for late submissions or failure to correct "material" errors on time. 

  • ASIC is coming for your client’s wallet come 1 Jan. Fees charged by ASIC for the lodgment of documents related to company takeovers will be increased. Documents attracting the new fees are those lodged under ss411(10), 601GC(2), 661B(1)(b) and 662B(1)(b) of the Corps Act. For schemes, for example, the new fee is payable upon the lodgment of court orders approving the scheme. Here’s their threshold snapshot:

🏘️ Word on the Street 

  • You’d think reading the materials before a trial is a given. Not for this Victorian barrister who rocked up to an 8-day trial without bothering to read the full brief. The result? A referral to the Legal Services Commissioner and an order to pay the full costs of the proceedings.

  • Hall & Wilcox has poached a public law specialist from Moray & Agnew to lead its newly launched Commonwealth FOI, information release, and privacy practice. As a member of the Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel, this hire is set to bolster the firm’s admin law credentials.

📢 Talking Points

  • The WFH debate continues. Office life: coffee chats, casual banter (all essential if you ask us), but… productivity killers. Meanwhile, WFH setups are smashing it, with workers pumping out up to 28% more—all thanks to fewer distractions. According to an LSE study, home-based staff logged half a case more per day than their office peers, starting earlier (23 minutes, to be exact) and staying focused. WFH also tends to nudge managers to assign work more aligned with employees’ strengths. But before you ditch the commute, heavy collaboration and juniors may not see the same efficiency gains.

  • Anyways, that sounds like a late-January discussion because Qantas and Jetstar have added 300,000 seats across 1300 extra flights in the first of 2025. The move is aimed at mounting pressure on rival Virgin, solidifying its market dominance which sits at 64.8%. Virgin’s sits at 33.6%, with both airlines seeing a bump since the demise of Rex and Bonza earlier this year.

  • The budget update was a bit of a Debbie Downer, to say the least. Total budget revenue is cumulatively higher by about $380bn over five years compared to the Treasury's 2022 predictions. Despite all that extra cash, underlying deficits are expected to blow out to $144bn over the next four years, $21.7bn worse than expected seven months ago. Why? The answer is federal spending. Its share of the economy will be 27.2% in 2025-26 – the highest outside the pandemic since 1986.

  • Donald Trump is suing Ann Selzer and her polling firm, Des Moines Register, claiming their off-base November poll—showing Kamala Harris 3 points ahead in Iowa, a state Trump won by 13—was “election interference”. The lawsuit, filed under a state law banning deceptive ads, alleges the poll was designed to harm him.

🏦 The Treasury

ASX as at market close. Commodities and crypto in US dollars.

🤝 Deal Room

  • Charter Hall Retail REIT winning hostile takeover of Hotel Property Investments may inspire more assertive buyout strategies in 2025. Despite HPI’s board saying “thanks, but no thanks,” Charter Hall still managed to obtain a 52% stake in HPI, allowing them to appoint directors and gain control.

  • Shein, the fast-fashion giant is considering asking UK regulators to waive the rule that requires at least 10% of shares to be sold to the public in its London IPO. If allowed, it'll be the first time a company lists in the UK below the recent 10% rule.

  • Honda and Nissan are revving up talks for a potential $80bn merger that could make them the world’s third-largest carmaker. If it goes through, the duo would challenge Toyota’s dominance, effectively splitting Japan’s auto industry into two major camps. The move signals Japan Inc’s shift into "consolidate to survive" mode, as they face fierce competition from Chinese carmakers and the ever-volatile Trump trade policies. If this deal goes ahead, expect a wave of other Japanese firms to follow suit—because in today’s Japanese market, mergers might be the only way forward.

  • Digital start-up Tortoise Media has finalised an agreement to buy the Observer, the 233-year-old Sunday newspaper, despite weeks of staff protest over the deal.

🏗 Sector Specific

Diggers

  • With global coal demand rising, Australia, the biggest metallurgical coal exporter, is expected to become the fourth-largest producer of coal overall by 2027, overtaking the US and Russia.

  • Four Brazilian municipalities have pulled out of the £18bn (A$36bn) UK class action against BHP over the 2015 Samarco dam disaster, following a US$31.7bn ($A50bn) settlement deal. Most of the affected parties are sticking with the UK litigation, doubtful that the new settlement fully covers the scale of the disaster.

Fin

  • Top Super funds are honing in on private investments for 2025. Aware Super, ART, UniSuper, and Colonial First State are lining up for a 2025 unlisted market spree. With $800 billion in the war chest, the big players are making bold moves.

  • ASIC calls Binance employees incompetent for allegedly misclassifying hundreds of retail investors—many of them everyday “mum-and-dad” types—as "sophisticated" investors. These unsophisticated customers were exposed to high-risk, speculative crypto products, leading to a $13.1m loss.

  • After ANZ faces allegations it withdrew fees from the accounts of deceased customers, former ACCC chair Graeme Samuel says ASIC’s probe highlights that ANZ hasn’t learned a thing from the 2018 Hayne Royal Commission into banking misconduct. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting for ANZ to trim its outgoing CEO’s paycheck after major missteps stack up in its markets division in its market unit.

Tech & Media

Retail & Real Estate

  • Ladbrokes and Neds are in hot water as Austrac files Federal Court action. “Austrac’s proceedings allege that Entain did not develop and maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program and failed to identify and assess the risks it faced,” Austrac chief said.

  • The Albanese government’s decision to remove research and development tax incentives for gambling and tobacco industries has blindsided the wagering sector, which warns it could set a precedent for other industries like fast food, alcohol, and fossil fuel. The move is a crackdown on taxpayer funds going to gambling and is expected to save the government $10m a year from 2026-27.