Deloitte Australia has slapped its audit division with a please-explain after a spike in staff uploading confidential client data to ChatGPT and other public AI tools. Partners and staff were also caught sending files to personal emails. The firm inked a deal with Anthropic months ago for approved AI tools, but apparently not everyone got the memo to use the firm’s internal tools: AFR

⚖️ Greenwashing: The Federal Court has dismissed the ACCR's greenwashing case against Santos, finding the energy giant didn't mislead investors by calling itself a "clean energy" producer. The ACCR alleged Santos breached s 1041H of the Corps Act and ss 18 and 33 of the ACL through disclosure that painted natural gas as "clean energy", promoted "zero emissions hydrogen", and touted net zero targets the ACCR said were speculative. The Court held that "clean energy" in context meant cleaner relative to coal and diesel, not emissions-free, and that "zero emissions hydrogen" referred to blue hydrogen produced with CCS and offsets, consistent with industry practice. On Santos' net zero roadmap, the Court found the targets had reasonable grounds and that sophisticated investors would've understood them as strategic objectives, not guaranteed commitments. That’s a big win for energy companies defending climate-related disclosures. HSF Kramer acted for Santos.

⚖️ Impied terms: The Qld Court of Appeal has held that a contract of indefinite duration didn't include an implied term allowing termination on reasonable notice. St Vincent's argued the contract for operating an emergency centre contained a termination term, implied by law or fact. The Court disagreed on both fronts. "Commercial contracts of indefinite duration" was too broad a category to support implication by law, and the term wasn't necessary for business efficacy, wasn't so obvious it went without saying, and directly contradicted the contract's express terms. Critically, the Court found the parties had deliberately rejected fixed or rolling terms in favour of an indefinite arrangement, making it logically inconsistent to imply an intention to terminate on notice.

⚖️ Regulatory/Corporate: ASIC is overhauling how it regulates employee entitlement schemes, and operators need to get moving. Existing relief from AFS licensing and managed investment provisions expires 1 April, with transitional relief available until 1 September, provided operators notify ASIC within 14 days and lodge an AFS licence application by that deadline. During the transition, operators must meet their obligations, including holding scheme property on trust, managing conflicts, and publishing key scheme information. No PDS is required, but it remains unclear whether design and distribution obligations (or DDO regime contained in Part 7.8A of the Corps Act), particularly around target market determinations for custodial services. ASIC's new relief instrument, expected in March, should hopefully fill the gaps: Hall & Wilcox

EY's top consulting leaders reckon the AI panic around junior roles is overblown. Their take: new grads are actually more valuable now because they show up without years of ingrained assumptions and can rethink how things are done from scratch. Meanwhile, PwC has quietly trimmed grad hiring in the US partly because of AI. EY says it hasn't followed suit, with AI-related revenue up 30% this financial year. What do you think? Will more grads get the axe, or is their value not priced in? Business Insider

Here’s a question for you: Does Australia collect more tax from beer than from offshore gas? Beers, silly. Beer is tipped to bring in $2.7bn in 2025-26, while revenue from petroleum (or PRRT) just $1.5bn. And we're one of the world's biggest gas exporters. The Australia Institute reckons $170bn in gas exports paid zero PRRT over four years. Yep, something doesn't add up: News.com.au

🩺 Gilbert + Tobin and MinterEllison are on opposite sides of one of Australia's largest VC-backed trade sales. Minters repped NYSE-listed Hims & Hers Health and G+T acted for Sydney telehealth group Eucalyptus in Hims’ $1.6bn acquisition of Eucalyptus. A massive payday for founders, early investors and employees. Full deep dive on our website: Point Blank

🔬 Blackstone is gearing up to sell clinical trials giant Nucleus Network, with eight banks pitching for the advisory mandate. The business, Australia's largest phase one trials provider, could fetch around $1bn. Blackstone picked it up from Crescent Capital in 2021 for ~$700m and has grown earnings significantly since: The Australian