Weil, Gotshal & Manges, one of Wall St’s most prestigious firms, is weighing a possible wind-down. It’s hired Davis Polk’s top bankruptcy lawyer after star partners defected to Paul Weiss, Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell, gutting revenue. A rescue merger fell over and incoming leader Ramona Nee pulled out. What a fall from grace: AFR

⚖️ AML/CTF: Star has been fined $260m for breaching money laundering laws between 2016 and 2022. That includes 1,190 customer due diligence contraventions at Star Sydney and 327 at Star Queensland. Justice Cameron Moore found Star “put profit over compliance, and did so on a large scale”. AUSTRAC wanted $400m. Star argued it couldn’t pay more than $100m without risking insolvency, but the Federal Court wasn’t convinced, partly because owner Bally’s never gave evidence on whether it would keep funding Star. If you plead poverty, you’ll need evidence from whoever holds the chequebook. Sydney pays $195m and Queensland $65m, in instalments ending May 2028, plus AUSTRAC’s costs: Federal Court of Australia

⚖️ Insolvency: A failing DOCA can be swapped for a new one, even if that means binding creditors who only came along later. In Pint Club, a Northern Territory club entered a DOCA in 2023 promising creditors 100 cents in the dollar by 2028, but it kept trading at a loss. Another club then offered to take it over through a new deal funding a 6 to 7 cent dividend. The Federal Court held that s 445A couldn’t bind creditors whose debts arose while the DOCA was running, but it used its s 447A power to extend the deed to cover them. No creditor objected and liquidation would likely have paid nothing, so the club lives to pour another pint: Ashurst Perkins Coie

⚖️ Construction: In Qube vs Martinus Rail, Qube paid Martinus Rail around $80m under three SOPA adjudications on the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal project, then went to arbitration to claw some of it back. The arbitrator found many of Martinus’ claims were time-barred under the contract and ordered it to repay $26.4m. Martinus resisted enforcement, saying SOPA’s “pay now, argue later” policy made enforcement contrary to public policy. The NSW Supreme Court disagreed. Peden J held that the public policy exception is narrow and SOPA doesn’t meet it. SOPA had done its job anyway: Martinus got paid upfront, and the arbitration finally decided who keeps the money: NSW Supreme Court, Gadens

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Aus Defence Minister Richard Marles have agreed to “swiftly execute” closer military ties. That means more money for Aussie air bases and joint logistics rather than a flood of new US troops. Marles wants a deeper partnership across air, land, sea, space and cyber: Bloomberg

Spare a thought for the 200 residents of the Odyssey, a cruise ship where people buy cabins and live at sea full-time. They paid up to $US440k each, but operator Villa Vie has now abandoned them in Cambodia after fuel costs jumped 300% since the Iran war began. It’s covering hotels, not flights home: AFR

🏘️ Warburg Pincus, backed by Paul Lederer and ART, is back with a fourth bid for Ingenia, offering $5.50 a share (including a 5c dividend) and valuing the land lease operator at $3.2bn. That tops Brookfield-backed Avid’s $5.40 offer, and Avid has until Sunday to match it: AFR

⛏️ Gold Fields is working the room in Perth, reportedly lobbying Northern Star investors to back its $36bn cash and scrip bid. But a falling gold price has dragged its $27-a-share offer to about $25, while Northern Star is apparently holding out for $31.50-plus: The Australian

🇯🇵 Japan’s Daiichi is tipped to sweeten its bid for Challenger towards $13 a share after the annuities giant knocked back its $11.80 offer. A deal at $13 or a touch higher would likely win the board over, valuing Challenger’s equity at about $8.8bn: The Australian

BHP and Rio Tinto have lost their bid to strike out sexual harassment class actions brought by former employees. The miners argued the women’s experiences were too varied to run together, but Justice Houda Younan found the claims sufficiently related to proceed collectively: AFR

NAB is spending over $300m a year on its Indian hub, where headcount jumped 54% to 4,534 and staff earn about $40k. Just a week after announcing 2,500 local job cuts, staff say senior leaders are assessed on offshore hiring targets: AFR

Woolworths says its $100m-plus price-cutting drive is paying off, with supermarket sales up 6.9% to $14.84bn in the first quarter as budget-strapped shoppers flock to cheap proteins like lean mince. Own-brand sales jumped 8.5%, but Big W remains a drag, with sales down 0.9%. Rival Coles reports Friday: AFR

ASIC is probing Firmus’ botched ASX float, including the bookbuild run by a star-studded banking lineup that pitched a near $44bn valuation. The investigation into the banks is ongoing, and no findings of fault have been made yet. Meanwhile, Firmus’ first financial report reveals $260m in pre-tax losses over two years: AFR, The Australian