Top US partners are now billing US$3,400 an hour, splitting legal work into two lanes: bet-the-company matters where clients won't blink, and everything else, where speed and cost control are the brief. Exhibit A: a legal team in the US are chasing US$147m in fees after their $425m jury win against Google in a data privacy class action. Their standard rates alone would clock US$56m for the hours worked, and they're also seeking a multiplier on top for the case's complexity: Axiom, Reuters

⚖️ Compliance: Mecca Brands and two related entities have each paid $198k in infringement notices, totalling $594k, after allegedly failing to lodge audited financial reports for FY24 within the statutory four-month window. ASIC came knocking in July 2025. The companies filed shortly after. This isn't an isolated action. ASIC's 2026 enforcement program is expanding, already catching 151 non-compliant companies last year. Large proprietary companies (those hitting two of: $50m+ revenue, $25m+ gross assets, 100+ employees) must lodge within four months of year end. If an extension is needed, seek ASIC relief before the deadline, not after: ASIC

⚖️ Mining/Insolvency: Two recent WA decisions confirm that contractual mining royalties can be extinguished by a deed of company arrangement, leaving royalty holders with nothing but a dividend entitlement under the DOCA. Whether royalty payments actually extinguished turns on the precise drafting of the DOCA itself, as the differing outcomes in Kirkalocka (extinguished) and Franco-Nevada (preserved) illustrate. Royalty holders negotiating mining M&A should now be pushing hard for security over the relevant tenements. Both decisions are on appeal: HSF Kramer

⚖️ Competition: The Australian government is doubling maximum penalties under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) for false or misleading conduct and cartel conduct, lifting the cap to $100m per offence. The Act has now received royal assent. That's the third escalation in recent years, following a 2022 jump to $50m. The reforms aren't fuel-sector-specific. Every business operating in Australia should now be revisiting its competition compliance program. Expect the ACCC to ramp up fuel price monitoring with weekly reporting, plus industry coordination on supply: Jones Day

Anthropic just signed an MoU with the Albanese government, pledging renewable energy investment for data centres and $3m in research credits to unis like ANU and Curtin. While Australia is the focus, copyright didn’t get a mention in the public announcements — even as Anthropic execs met separately with NextDC, AirTrunk and CDC Data Centres, where it was apparently front of mind. AirTrunk's CEO called it "the elephant in the room." AFR

Trump reckons the war on Iran will wrap up in two to three weeks, and the Strait of Hormuz will open "automatically" once the US leaves. He told countries affected by the Strait closure to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just take it" — aka, sort it out yourselves. Iran says it's open to ending things but wants guarantees against future strikes: Bloomberg, Capital Brief

💰 OpenAI has closed the largest private funding round in history, raising US$122bn at a US$852bn valuation, anchored by SoftBank, Amazon and Nvidia at US$30bn, US$50bn and US$30bn, respectively. For the first time, US$3bn came from individual investors via bank channels: Capital Brief

🛏️ Koala sticks the landing, closing up 0.3% at $3.75 on its ASX debut after swinging as high as 11% intraday. Retail investors were credited as the backbone of the deal. Eyes now turn to what's next on the IPO runway: premium jewellery piercing chain Skin Kandy is warming up, while pet-care giant Greencross has pumped the brakes on its $3bn-plus float for now: The Australian