Greenwashing penalties take charge ♻️🚿

G’day.  

Here’s the latest – welcome to Point Blank.

 💼 Practice Points

• Vanguard hit with $12.9m for misleading claims in relation to its “ethically conscious” fund, making it the largest greenwashing penalty yet (ASIC).

• Recent reforms to Australia's anti-discrimination laws encourage more claimants to pursue discrimination cases and require organisations to strengthen their prevention frameworks (Parliament).

• The Rio/Arcadium leak underscores ASIC's reminder that parties involved in fundraising or mergers should manage risk of leaks diligently. ASIC’s recommendations are here.

• Law firm partners urge the Attorney-General to fast-track copyright measures to address transparency concerns regarding AI models (Capital Brief).

• Victorian Supreme Court finds an operator breached its licence and general environmental duty, marking the first substantive decision on the issue (KWM).

 📢 Talking Points

• Australia's energy transition is stalling, with rising coal power and reduced large-scale solar output leading to higher wholesale power prices (AFR).

• Meta announced a ban on Russian media outlets following a US Department of Justice charge, sparking a debate about the role of social media companies as “arbiters of truth” (The Age).

 🤝 Deal Room

• Off the back of the $24b AirTrunk acquisition, Blackstone's real estate division, is now eyeing Singapore Post's Australian assets, which could be valued at up to $1b, indicating a strong push into the logistics sector (AFR).

• Arcadium considered a “sitting duck” due to several factors making it vulnerable to acquisition (AFR), while analysts at Barrenjoey value the takeover target at $5.3 billion (The Australian).

• Growing concerns that the ACCC will derail the $8.8b Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare merger that has investors buzzing (SMH).

• The deadline for NBIOs to purchase bus operator Kinetic has been extended, enabling potential buyers to consider the upside of its recent Victorian government contract wins (AFR).

 🏦 The Treasury

🏛 Policy Watch

• RBA governor Michele Bullock gets a cautious thumbs-up in her first year - let’s hope she doesn’t, like Philip Lowe, make promises she can’t deliver (AFR).

• Investors, like Regal Partners are betting big on China’s stock market, hoping for a much-anticipated public spending package (AFR).

• Spam Prevention Framework is not up to scratch, according to the Communications Alliance which has called for amendments (The Australian).

🏗 Sector Specific

Mining

• BHP nickel smelter in Kalgoorlie to shut down this week after 51 years of operation, with BHP offering new jobs to ~800 workers affected (ABR).

• Citi Group sees significant potential for Australian gold miners to rise in value, predicting a jump to $3,000 per ounce by 2025, with Evolution Mining as its top pick (ABR).

• Woodside has pulled out of its green hydrogen projects in Tasmania and New Zealand, joining Origin and Fortescue in the scaling back of hydrogen (ABR).

Retail

• Wesfarmers' health division is projected to reach $6 billion in revenue this year, fuelled by alarming health data indicating a decline in Australians' well-being since the pandemic (AFR).

Tech

• Meta's new AI model, Movie Gen, generates realistic video and audio clips from user prompts, aiming to rival OpenAI and ElevenLabs (Reuters).

• Nissan snags a 25% stake in ChargeScape, expanding its battery charging technology services for electric vehicle drivers in the U.S. and Canada (Reuters).

🙉 Hearsay 

• EY's US partners will see some of their 2024 pay held back due to EY cash flow issues (AFR).

• Former KWM lawyer joins Sparke Helmore as a partner in its corporate and commercial team (Australasian Lawyer).

• Sophy Woodward joins the ranks in Clayton Utz’s commercial disputes practice (Clayton Utz).