Payday looms for Hamilton Locke’s lawyers

ASIC cracks down on audit firms’ conduct

Big Tech eyes court fight on ban

HPX Group, owner of Hamilton Locke and Source, has hired Rothschild & Co to explore a sale. Founded by Nick Humphrey, HPX pulled in $116.8m revenue in FY24, up 50%, with $21.5m EBITDA. With PE circling legal, cyber and ESG plays, this could be staff’s long-awaited payday: Point Blank

ASIC has found major audit firms breaching independence rules, leading to one auditor’s registration being cancelled, a $78k fine for Nexia Perth, and orders against Hall Chadwick. The review of 48 auditors found nine breached independence rules — a blow to audit credibility: AFR

Baker McKenzie has appointed John Nielsen as special counsel in Sydney. The former in-house PE lawyer joins from a leading Australian fund, with prior stints at Ashurst, White & Case and Hogan Lovells. His focus spans private equity, restructures and bespoke investments: Baker McKenzie

Is Deloitte the winner in its own AI saga? The Big 4 firm has bagged 35 new government contracts worth $47.1m And that’s worth more than the other Big 4 combined. All despite admitting to using AI to write a botched $440k report riddled with fake references. The new work supposedly includes gigs for the same department that caught the AI slip-up. Apparently, Canberra just can’t say no: AFR

Telstra has been hit with an $18m penalty after the Federal Court found it misled nearly 9,000 Belong NBN customers by quietly moving them to a lower upload speed plan. In late 2020, Telstra downgraded users from 100/40 Mbps to 100/20 Mbps without telling them, which isn’t great. ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said the penalty sends a clear message: “businesses can’t change key aspects of a service without informing customers.” Telstra will also pay $2.3m in remediation and contribute to the ACCC’s costs. The case lands squarely within the ACCC’s enforcement focus on misleading conduct in essential services, especially telecommunications: ACCC

The age-old question — how do you avoid breaching the ASX Listing Rules? Fret not, even seasoned directors can slip up. KWM partner Will Heath says failures to file Appendix 3Ys or errors in continuous and periodic disclosure are among the most common breaches. Because the ASX Listing Rules and Corps Act overlap, a single mistake can expose both companies and directors to penalties. Regulators and class action firms are “red hot” on disclosure, as seen in iSignthis’ $10m fine and its CEO’s six-year ban for misleading the ASX. Compliance shouldn’t just be about dodging fines, it’s about building trust. Heath says smart boards implement best practice policies and processes to ensure disclosure is timely and accurate. They never treat their policies as “set and forget” and review them regularly: AICD

APRA has warned superannuation platform trustees to lift their investment governance game, after a thematic review found weak onboarding, monitoring and remedial oversight across the sector. In a new letter to trustees, APRA said they must ensure investment menus are “true to label”, deliver value, and are backed by robust decision-making. The regulator outlined “better practice” examples — from due diligence on related-party products to monitoring liquidity, volatility, and negative news — and reminded trustees they “can’t outsource accountability” to advisers or fund managers. Trustees must now review frameworks, confirm FAR accountabilities and self-assess for potential breaches: APRA

Firms like MinterEllison warn global platforms may use litigation as a strategy to challenge Australia’s new under-16 social media ban, testing the limits of the eSafety Commissioner’s powers. With fines of up to $49.5m for non-compliance, companies like Meta, X and YouTube are expected to argue the law is unclear and overreaching, setting the stage for landmark digital-regulation battles. Ban kicks in Dec 10: Law.com

Hundreds of Australian writers are eligible for payments of ~$4.5k per book after Anthropic agreed to a $US1.5bn (A$2.27bn) AI copyright settlement. The tech firm admitted to using over 500,000 books to train its models without permission. Authors have until March 2026 to claim, as Anthropic prepares to destroy the stolen data: The Australian

NASDAQ-listed IREN co-founders Dan and Will Roberts are now Australia’s highest-paid CEOs, pocketing $109m each after the Bitcoin miner’s stock soared 900%. The ex-Macquarie VPs earned most of it through Elon Musk-style stock awards, triggered as IREN hit a $15.7bn valuation: Capital Brief

Corrs and HSF Kramer: lead the $3.7bn Gold Fields–Gold Road deal, which saw Gold Fields take full control of the Gruyere mine after months of wrangling. The deal’s now complete, marking one of the biggest gold deals of the year and yet another big consolidation play in Australia’s gold sector. Read the insight here: Point Blank

Macquarie Group: has claimed the No.1 spot in Australia’s M&A rankings, after Santos’ $36bn takeover collapse reshuffled the league tables. Led by Tim Joyce, Macquarie scored big on $1bn–$5bn deals across sectors, including Rio’s Rhodes Ridge, WiseTech’s $3.2bn e2open buy, and KKR’s Zenith Energy deal: AFR

Carma: the Tiger Global and Five V-backed used car platform is gearing up for an ASX debut, with E&P Capital and Canaccord running the $242m–$316m float. Founded by ex-Goldman analyst Yosuke Hall and fundie Lachlan MacGregor, Carma’s FY26 forecasts hinge on scaling its new reconditioning hub, which can process up to 30k vehicles a year: AFR

Woodside is back under investigation over claims it processed third-party gas at the North West Shelf in breach of federal law. The reopened inquiry follows a Greenpeace complaint, with penalties of up to $825k if breaches are proven. Woodside says it’s yet to be contacted by regulators: AFR

Rio Tinto and its Japanese partners Mitsui and Nippon Steel will pour $1.1bn into expanding the West Angelas iron ore mine, part of the Robe River JV. The move is part of Rio’s $20bn Pilbara spend to sustain output as China turns to higher-grade ore. Rio says the expansion secures “reliable, high-quality supply” amid growing market volatility: AFR

The Federal Court has heard explosive claims about ANZ’s trading floor culture, including a trader using a corporate credit card at a Sydney brothel and a strip club “celebration” with HR staff. The revelations surfaced during Etienne Alexiou’s wrongful dismissal case, where he alleges he was fired for whistleblowing, not misconduct: The Australian

CBA has migrated its core banking system to Amazon Web Services, marking one of the world’s biggest cloud moves by a bank. The shift puts two-in-five Aussie transactions on AWS servers and sets CBA up for an AI-powered future, says tech boss Gavin Munroe: AFR

Two Buxton Bentleigh property managers are suing the agency, alleging they were sacked over flexible work requests after returning from parental leave. Both long-time staff and 15% shareholders they’re seeking a combined $325k in damages. Buxton denies any wrongdoing: The Australian

Quintessential has snapped up the Green Square North Tower in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley for $174.9m, after an oversubscribed $98m equity raise. The 12-storey tower, 80% leased to government tenants, offers a 6–6.5% yield and 15–19% IRR. CEO Justin Mills says falling rates are reviving equity appetite: AFR

OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into an app platform, bringing partners like Spotify, Canva, and Zillow directly inside the chatbot. CEO Sam Altman says developers will soon be able to build, sell, and monetise apps, positioning OpenAI as a challenger to Apple and Google’s app stores: Business Insider

Lorikeet, a Sydney startup automating customer service with gen AI, has ranked #8 globally on a16z’s AI Apps 50, beating Canva (#17). Backed by Blackbird, Square Peg and Airtree, the two-year-old firm has 10x’d revenue and raised $54m. Its ‘AI concierges’ are now used by Airwallex, Linktree and Eucalyptus, and it’s gunning for global rivals like Zendesk: Smart Company