Meta blasts tech tax 📵

G’day.  

Welcome to Point Blank – Who’s ready for some Wednesday wisdom (and a coffee)? 

 💼 Practice Points

• ASIC is sniffing around Mineral Resources' tax evasion saga, primarily focusing on directors’ duties. The AFR reports that a whistleblower alerted independent directors in June 2022, begging the question: how can shareholders trust a board that moves at a snail’s pace?

• High Court shake-up in Tesseract decision, ruling that proportionate liability laws apply to arbitration, which goes against the earlier belief that these laws were inapplicable due to an inability to join third parties to arbitration. Lundberg J suggests excluding proportionate liability laws when drafting DR clauses.

• A recent Bondi pop-up selling Crumbl cookies, with no affiliation to the US brand, highlights the importance of proactive trademark registration for international businesses in Australia.

• After Meta decides to abandon its deal to pay publishers for news, the Senate interim report recommends imposing a ‘digital platforms levy’—a tax on tech giants—and a fund to help traditional news media organisations ‘strengthen alternative income streams’. In response, Meta unsurprisingly blasted the report for overlooking how their platforms function and the value they offer to news publishers who share content.

 📢 Talking Points

• It’s Publishers v AI as News Corp fires lawsuits against AI search engine Perplexity for copyright breach. Earlier this year, News Corp inked a $250m deal with OpenAI for access rights to the conglomerate’s content, while The New York Times sued the $228bn AI leader (along with Microsoft) for copyright infringement.

• Putin to host BRICS summit this week and will urge the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE) to adopt a new global payments system designed to curtail America’s dollar dominance. Coined ‘BRICS-Bridge’, the SWIFT rival is intended to deliver cross-border settlements within the year.

• Goldman Sachs predicts that investing returns from the S&P will tumble to just 3% pa. The 'Magnificent Seven' tech giants (including Meta and Alphabet) account for 36% of the index. With rising regulatory scrutiny in both the US and Australia, their dominance—and market returns—could take a hit.

• Trump edges ahead of Harris for the first time since August. The Economist’s latest statistical model quantifies a 54% chance that DJT returns to the White House – leaving us with a coin toss 2 weeks from the election.

• Bruce Lehrmann does not have to pay $200,000 in security for costs to continue his appeal. Lehrmann is yet to pay $2m to Ten Network for legal fees, instead opting to appeal.

 🏦 The Treasury

• As Dr Chalmers heads to Washington, Australia is tipped to record the second-highest inflation rate out of 42 countries next year – ouch, cozzie livs lives on.

 🤝 Deal Room

• Harmony Gold Mining, the $11bn South African-listed gold miner, is eyeing the $2bn Ravenswood Gold Mine currently up for sale to expand in Australia.

• The Pharmacy Guild says that the ACCC should block the Chemist Warehouse/Sigma merger as it would give the combined entity control over more than half of the sector's revenue. In response to ACCC concerns, Sigma has offered various concessions, allowing franchisees to exit their agreements without penalty and ensuring customer information remains separate from Chemist Warehouse. Stay tuned for the ACCC’s decision next month.

• Vitrafy Life Sciences, a biomedical cryopreservation company backed by Regal Funds, is launching an IPO to raise $25m to $35m, potentially achieving a market cap of $117.5m.

🧐 Wednesday Wisdom

🏗 Sector Specific

Diggers

• Coalition’s Ted O’Brien plans for the Coalition to build seven government-owned nuclear power plants, committing to release a comprehensive economic case by Christmas.

• Squadron Energy CEO urges Australian banks to rethink their opposition to financing gas projects, stressing their vital role in ensuring energy reliability during the transition to renewables.

• Fortescue Metals CEO calls for an expedited review of the climate safeguard mechanism, which he argues is compromised by diesel tax credits—a rebate claimed by mining companies for diesel used on private roads.

Tech & Media

• Canva surpasses $2.5bn in revenue, yet delays IPO for now.

• The dispute between beauty entrepreneur Linda Rogan and WiseTech’s Richard White has settled, reportedly for millions, ending a saga that has taken a toll on WiseTech’s share price. That was until today – the WiseTech founder reportedly had a relationship with an employee and gifted her a $7m luxury waterfront mansion.

Retail & Real Estate

• Harrolds, a luxury fashion department store in Australia, has collapsed into liquidation after nearly 40 years, owing millions to brands like Gucci and Alexander McQueen.

• The owners of Manhattan's Chrysler Building face eviction after Signa Holding collapsed under $20bn in debt, prompting the landowner, Cooper Union to terminate their ground lease and take control of the building.

🏘️ Word on the Street 

• A Maurice Blackburn lawyer is suing the firm for alleged bullying and harassment, accusing her boss of giving her “frivolous” tasks, publicly disparaging her and excluding her from important meetings.

• Resources arbitration specialist, Sean Marriott joins HFW as partner after 8.5 years at Clifford Chance.