The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") recently announced that it had conducted a sweep of more than 2,000 Australian retail websites that found some businesses' return policies and website terms and...more
On 28 March 2025, the Australian Government (the Government) published its draft Determination providing the beginnings of detail about the acquisitions that are the subject of mandatory notification, some of the exceptions...more
On 4 March 2025, the ACCC released its much-anticipated guidance on how it proposes to manage the transition to Australia's new mandatory merger control regime. The guidance strongly suggests that, if the ACCC does not...more
In Brief - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has just announced the ACCC’s Compliance and Enforcement priorities for 2025-2026....more
On 20 February 2025, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced the ACCC's 2025-26 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities. The ACCC's priorities continue to target conduct...more
We’re excited to be visiting Sydney next week to catch up with competition law colleagues on our way to the ABA 2025 Asia-Pacific Conference. This is a time of unprecedented activity and change in antitrust law and policy...more
What’s Inside This Issue? This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
Business owners should be aware of a new email scam circulating impersonating an intellectual property (IP) representative, containing false information, and offering trademark assistance. This nefarious email scam is sent by...more
New bribery offenses in Australia now make it easier for authorities to prosecute organizations and require companies to exercise greater oversight and controls. Australia’s regulators remain active in greenwashing and other...more
It is now confirmed that Australia will have a mandatory and suspensory (competition) pre-merger clearance regime with the passing of legislation last week....more
Australia’s mandatory suspensory merger control regime will come into force on 1 January 2026 following the passing of legislation by both houses of Parliament, representing a major shift for businesses, their advisors and...more
What's Inside this Issue? This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
Australia will soon shift to a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime, with the transition commencing mid-2025. We provide below our key takeaways and observations on the bill which now has the support of both major...more
Qantas Airways is facing a formal complaint lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) by the Environmental Defenders Office, an Australian non-governmental organization. The complaint claims that...more
In Brief - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) continue to be vigilant and seek significant penalties for alleged "greenwashing" (misleading...more
In Brief - On 10 October 2024, the Australian Government introduced a bill into Parliament for Australia to enact a mandatory and suspensory competition merger clearance regime....more
The Development: Recently, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") published draft guidelines designed to assist businesses to understand how they can collaborate on sustainability initiatives without...more
Australian Update - Guide to Sustainable Collaborations – ACCC - On 8 July 2024, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) published a draft guide on Sustainability collaborations and Australian competition law...more
ESG-related enforcement remains a top priority and focus for Australia's corporate regulators. Since our last update, there has been a steady stream of enforcement activity aimed at climate-related representations and...more
The Australian Government (the Government) opened consultation on Australia’s proposed merger notification thresholds. The Consultation Paper proposes a notification regime that consists of four different thresholds—two based...more
In Brief - Following reforms to the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime on 9 November 2023, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are...more
On July 24 2024, the Australian Federal Government released its long-awaited exposure draft legislation to amend Australia's current informal merger clearance process to a mandatory merger control regime (Exposure Draft)...more
Spotlight on below-threshold merger reviews: doubts over European Commission’s powers while in depth probes launched in Italy - Last month, we reported on the landmark Advocate General (AG) opinion in Illumina/GRAIL. The AG...more
AUSTRALIAN UPDATE - Updated Bill to Introduce Climate-Related Financial Reporting Regime - Background - The Australian Government released the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market...more
The Australian government is in the process of finalising legislation relating to its proposed mandatory climate-related financial disclosure regime, following the completion of a one-month consultation process on the draft...more