Woodside challenges carbon cuts

PRACTICE POINTS

Consumer law shake-up

• The government wants to add a new general prohibition on unfair trading practices under the ACL to catch grey areas like hidden fees, drip pricing and subscription tactics. The new test will capture business conduct that:

  • unreasonably distorts or manipulates or is likely to distort or manipulate consumer decision-making; and

  • causes or is likely to cause material detriment.

  While consultation is still open, businesses should get ready—think transparent pricing, easier subscription cancellations, and no forced account sign-ups: Piper Alderman

• Virtual AGMs: webcasts won’t cut it. ASIC’s new guidance makes it clear—at virtual shareholder meetings, shareholders must be able to exercise their right to ask questions and vote. Just providing a webcast of a meeting at a physical venue doesn't meet the requirements of a hybrid meeting.

• Another whistleblower claim bites the dust in Federal Court. In a new decision, Justice Raper dismissed a claim that the decision not to renew a Professor’s employment under a fixed-term contract was victimisation under whistleblower laws. The Court found: (1) there was no “detriment” under the Corps Act; (2) the employer didn’t hold a prohibited belief or suspension; and, in any event, (3) the employer wasn’t motivated by any purported whistleblowing complaint.

WORD ON THE STREET

DEI divide

• The US legal world is now split between those suing Trump and those surrendering. Milbank is the latest to cave to Trump pressure, pledging US$100m in free work for the White House and dropping diversity-based hiring. While Perkins Coie fights back in court, Milbank joins firms like Paul Weiss and Skadden in cutting deals to stay in the Trump's good books: Reuters

• Meanwhile, Trump’s DEI crusade is sending ripples Down Under, especially among Aussie firms with US ties. KWM employment partner Sarah Clarke says it's unclear how the initial exec orders will affect Australian entities. Minters’ Virginia Briggs says the probes are of “no consequence” – even though Freshfields, a Minters partner is in Trump’s firing line. For now, local firms are still flying the DEI flag, while their US counterparts quietly fold: Capital Brief

• Scyne swings the axe again. The PwC spinout will cut up to 10% of staff and merge its digital and data units. It follows 90 cuts last year and a string of senior exits to FTI Consulting. With Canberra tightening consultant spend, Scyne's moving away from generalist work and betting big on tech-focused projects: AFR

• Mandi Jacobson, former partner at Hogan Lovells, joins Thomson Geer as a partner in Sydney with her life sciences team. The move Hogan Lovells' exit from the Australian market: Lawyers Weekly

TALKING POINTS

Gen Z’s board takeover

• Gen Z to the boardroom? Workday’s Simon Tate says it’s time to give tech-savvy young workers a seat at the table—literally. He’s calling on companies to add Gen Zs to boards or create parallel tech advisory panels to lift productivity. Telstra’s Bridget Loudon-Harris, who joined the board at 32, agrees that publicly listed companies should appoint younger directors because ignoring their perspective is risky bet: AFR

• The S&P 500 faced its worst day in five years. US President Trump's tariffs caused market chaos as investors scramble to price in the global price hikes to products. The US dollar reverses all gains since Trump's election, while ASX futures indicate a 1% drop today: Bloomberg

• Not to worry, Albo’s has a 5-step tariff response plan:

  • $50m to help exporters like beef find new markets

  • $1bn in zero-interest loans for businesses chasing offshore growth

  • Strategic reserve of critical minerals, with more details coming 

  • $20m Buy Australia push to boost local procurement

  • $5m to strengthen anti-dumping laws to stop exporters flooding cheap steel and Aluminium in Aus

  Dutton slammed the PM’s response, saying the Coalition would leverage Australia’s defence relationship with the US to get a better deal: ABC

TREASURY

DEAL ROOM

M&A crystal ball

• Ashurst has dropped its Aussie M&A trends report:

  • Materials dominated 2024, making up 55% of deal value, with IT next at 22%.

  • Reverse break fees popped up in 63% of deals, up from 56% the year before.

  • Foreign bidders are keen beans with 51% of deals involving overseas buyers.

  Looking ahead? A weak $A will keep Aussie targets hot. Ashurst tips more distressed M&A in healthcare, transport and retail, and says deep PE pockets means private capital is here to stay in M&A.

• Plaid has raised US$575m in a secondary share sale, bringing its valuation down from $13.4bn in 2021 to $6.1bn. Despite the lower valuation, Plaid CEO Zach Perret highlighted strong growth and improved profitability. The round saw participation from Ribbit Capital, NEA, Fidelity, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton. Plaid still eyes an IPO potential: finex

• Singapore’s Government Investment Corp is snapping up a 10% stake in Transgrid, valuing the grid giant at $10bn. The slice comes from Morrison’s UTA fund, with Macquarie advising. The deal isn’t done yet—pre-emptive rights are still in play—as some owners eye the exit amid surging clean energy transition costs: The Australian

SECTOR SPECIFIC

Bullying, booze and blind eyes

🚜 DIGGERS

• Woodside Energy CEO Meg O'Neill states that the $42.68n company cannot afford deep carbon cuts, citing costs of $US200-$US500 per tonne for carbon capture options, far above their current $US80 per tonne base. 58% of shareholders rejected the company’s climate transition plan last year: AFR

• Here’s your sign to ask for a 40% pay rise. Westgold’s MD Wayne Bramwell lands a 42% pay bump to $925k, plus $4.2m in shares. And that’s just weeks after a production downgrade wiped $300m off the company’s value. The miner now expects up to 21% less gold output. Still, Westgold says the raise reflects “market conditions” and demand for mining execs: AFR

🏦 FIN

• Oliver Wyman’s review of ANZ markets team was scathing, to say the least. The review found bosses ignored reports of bullying, substance abuse and toxic behaviour in Sydney, London and Singapore. Staff feared reprisals for speaking up, and poor leadership let misconduct fester for months or years: AFR

• Deutsche Bank’s investment arm DWS cops €25m fine for greenwashing over claims it exaggerated ESG credentials. Prosecutors said boasts like “ESG is an integral part of our DNA” didn’t match reality. DWS conceded its marketing was “exuberant”: ESG Today

🏡 RETAIL & REAL ESTATE

• Canadian giant Oxford Properties is bullish on Australia’s property market, from premium offices like the $1.3bn Parkline Place to logistics. It’s already deployed $6.5bn since 2018 and more is on the way: The Australian

• Cue Clothing sold to UK’s Hilco Capital, marking the end of an era for the Aussie fashion house behind Cue and Veronika Maine. The deal follows a bitter dispute, with Justin Levis suing his parents over Cue’s succession plans: Inside Retail

📱 TECH & START UP

• iPhone prices could skyrocket to $2,300. Trump’s new 34% China tariff triggered the largest single-day wipeout in US market history, with Apple losing $474bn off its market cap – 9.25% drop. Meanwhile, Visa dangles $100m carrot to steal Apple Card from Mastercard. Amex is also circling, hoping to become both issuer and network as Goldman Sachs exits consumer lender: Reuters, Finex

• Leonardo.AI founder JJ Fiasson, now a Canva employee after his startup's acquisition, isn’t fazed by OpenAI’s new image-generation capabilities. He sees them as "cool" additions that can enhance products like Canva and Leonardo.AI. Fiasson emphasised that generative AI tools like Leonardo.AI models are valuable for graphic design, enabling more creativity and accelerating workflows: Capital Brief