Keeping Good Companies articles from October 2007

Keeping Good Companies archives from October 2007

Anti-money Laundering Act--from a 'risk-based approach' to the second wave of AML reforms.(NEWS AND VIEWS)
October 1, 2007... Australia, as a founding member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (1), was among the first group of countries to be evaluated against the FATF standards. The FATF peer report released in October 2005, found that the then existing...

Bridging the divide between companies and shareholders.(Key Issues: APPLIED CORPORATE GOVERNANCE)
October 1, 2007... All too often the relationship between companies and their shareholders becomes strained and even confrontational. A disagreement over traditional corporate governance topics such as board structure or pay, or over wider issues such as...

Recruiting a recruiter.
October 1, 2007... From the receptionist to the company director, finding and retaining the right people, in a candidate-short marketplace, has never been as challenging. Of course, one solution is to partner with a recruitment company. But simply choosing...

The death of the annual report.(Key Issues: COMPANY SECRETARY)
October 1, 2007... The annual report may not yet be extinct but it is certainly an endangered species. My research in recent years has focused on management, measurement and reporting of intellectual capital and social and environmental reporting. I have...

Helping small business help itself.(Professional Updates: COMPETITION LAW)
October 1, 2007... When it comes to national aspirations, the desire of Australians to run a small business is right up there with dreaming of owning a quarter-acre block. The vast majority of the country's businesses, some 95 per cent, have fewer than 20...

Directors' duties when private equity comes knocking.(Professional Updates: CORPORATE LAW)
October 1, 2007... There has been an upturn recently in takeover activity involving ASX-listed companies and private equity bidders. This trains the spotlight on the duties of private equity target company directors in responding to takeover proposals. In most...

Raising your profile with recruiters.(NEWS AND VIEWS)
October 1, 2007... What does good governance have in common with horseracing? We asked ourselves that question when thinking about a creative way to promote membership of CSA to the recruitment industry. The answer might not spring out of the gate immediately,...

Long-tail liabilities--CAMAC's discussion paper and the impact on insolvency practitioners.(NEWS AND VIEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) discussion paper, Longtail Liabilities: The treatment of unascertained future personal injury claims contains a number of proposals for dealing with such claims. If adopted, these...

Loyalty and disengagement--taming the retention monster.(Professional Updates: MANAGEMENT)
October 1, 2007... Australia's labour market is becoming increasingly tight with unemployment at its lowest for more than 30 years. Compounding this, according to the Australian Government's first Intergenerational Report (IGR) project companies are facing...

Privacy discussion paper released by Australian Law Reform Commission.(NEWS AND VIEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released a Discussion Paper which summarises the ALRC's proposals for the reform of Australian privacy laws. The proposals cover a wide range of issues and, if accepted by the government, will...

CAL distributions.
October 1, 2007... As a member of Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), CSA is entitled to claim money from CAL's distributions when articles from Keeping good companies appear in the records kept for CAL of the use of our journal in photocopying and aggregated...

Key court decision on the duty of 'good faith'.(Professionals Updates: INSURANCE LAW)
October 1, 2007... A recent decision by the New South Wales Court of Appeal suggests insurers' duty of good faith is unlikely to be Australian law in the near future. The New South Wales Court of Appeal in the matter of CGU Workers Compensation (NSW) Limited v...

The public sector manager's governance responsibilities and risks.(Key Issues: RISK MANAGEMENT)
October 1, 2007... Corporate governance involves managing risks inherent in managing the interrelationships between various participants. In the private sector, the participants are well recognised--boards, CEOs and shareholders. The public sector participants...

Employment termination payments--a new landscape for employers following the 'simpler super' reforms.(Professional Updates: SUPERANNUATION LAW)
October 1, 2007... Prior to 1 July 2007, payments made as a consequence of a termination of employment were regarded as eligible termination payments. More importantly for employers and relevant employees, such payments were generally able to be rolled over into...

Effectiveness of rights issues--uncertainty continues.(Professional Updates: TAXATION LAW)
October 1, 2007... By now many of you will have heard of the High Court's decision in Commissioner of Taxation v McNeil [2007] HCA 5 (1) and how the Australian Tax Office's (ATO) interpretation of it (2) would adversely influence the effectiveness of rights...

Thou shalt disclose (or else ... ).(NEWS AND VIEWS)
October 1, 2007... The continuous disclosure provisions were introduced into the Corporations Law in 1994. (1) Between 1994 and 2002 a contravention of the continuous disclosure provisions could be enforced by the criminal law. However, the first criminal...