ASIC questions auditors over AI cheating

26% of corporates plan to slash legal spend

Paramount goes hostile over Netflix-WBD deal

ASIC is quietly probing KPMG after revelations that auditors used AI to cheat on mandatory compliance tests. It’s not a formal investigation (yet), but the regulator has raised questions after the firm failed to report the incident. The move comes as ASIC faces criticism for lax auditor oversight and pressure to toughen its stance on the Big Four: AFR

In-house teams are sending a warning shot: 26% expect to cut law firm spend in 2026, even as hourly rates soar. A latest survey shows corporate legal is doubling down on AI — 85% now have dedicated AI committees. More work is staying inside the building and routine tasks are getting AI-ed away. But Big Law isn’t hurting: firms are raking in record fees on high-risk, high-value matters: Artificial Lawyer

Here’s a closer look at the law firm’s slice of the BHP settlement we mentioned yesterday. Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald have taken a $48m slice of BHP’s $110m class action settlement — triple what they promised group members. The firms lifted their cut from 15% to 50% despite no trial. Experts say they’ve “gotten away with more than I’ve ever seen”, raising fresh questions about class action costs: AFR

The ACCC has tapped former NSW chief data scientist Ian Opperman as its newest commissioner, alongside the reappointment of Anna Brakey for another five-year term. Opperman, who helped steer Digital ID and the consumer data right, replaces outgoing commissioner John Crone: Capital Brief

Regulatory Disputes: ASIC has launched civil penalty proceedings against super trustee Diversa over alleged failures tied to the $300m First Guardian collapse, alleging Diversa approved the option without adequate due diligence, failed to monitor it, and didn’t enforce its own 50% holding limit for members invested through four super funds between 2020–24. ASIC says Diversa breached SIS Act trustee duties and Corporations Act licence obligations by not acting with care, skill or in members’ best financial interests. The case forms part of ASIC’s broader First Guardian/Shield enforcement push, with 11 cases now before the Federal Court as regulators seek compensation and accountability after almost 12,000 investors collectively lost around $1bn: ASIC

AI: The Australian Government’s new voluntary guidance on AI-generated content signals a shift from simple “this was made with AI” labels to a more structured transparency model. Released on 28 November 2025, it recommends three techniques – labelling, metadata and watermarking. Expectations scaling depending on how much AI is involved (AI-assisted vs AI-enhanced vs fully AI-generated) and the content’s potential impact. Low-risk or lightly AI-touched content may need no disclosure, while high-impact uses like recruitment, medical imaging or news publishing may require stronger transparency mechanisms to avoid misleading users. The guidance highlights that transparency is contextual and not one-size-fits-all: HSF Kramer

Restructure/Tax: The Full Federal Court has dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal in Commissioner of Taxation v Hicks, confirming that a $52m selective capital return in City Beach’s 2016 restructure was not a dividend substitute with tax-free capital returns. The restructure involved interposing a new holding company over the City Beach Trust and implementing a selective share capital reduction. This capital reduction was used to discharge Division 7A loans owed by entities associated with the group’s principals. The Commissioner sought to apply anti-avoidance provisions. The Court held neither s 45B nor Part IVA applied, finding the dominant purpose was repaying Division 7A loans while preserving pre-CGT assets — rendering the Commissioner’s anti-avoidance determinations invalid. Dentons acted for the founders of City Beach: Dentons

Amazon’s silence-as-praise culture left one senior leader running on fumes. After years of frantic pace and zero feedback, she realised the numbness wasn’t drive, it was burnout. Her fix wasn’t a sabbatical, it was adopting micro-boundaries — eating lunch, closing email at night, saying no to “after-school” work. For lawyers drowning in volume, those tiny guardrails matter because they’re the only thing that actually holds the line: Business Insider

Barnaby Joyce has ditched the Nationals and signed up with One Nation, calling it a “considered and serious” move. Pauline Hanson has already locked him in for a NSW Senate run in 2028. Joyce says he couldn’t oppose Labor’s energy and immigration agenda from the Nat’s backbench, so he’s switching teams. He’ll sit in the House as One Nation until the next election: TDA

Paramount: has barged in with a US$108bn hostile tilt for Warner Bros Discovery, just days after Netflix clinched a $72bn equity deal for WBD’s studios, HBO and streaming assets. Paramount says its US$30-a-share cash offer is superior, promising US$18bn more upfront in cash. Paramount has brought in the big guns — Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Latham & Watkins: Reuters, Bloomberg

Brookfield and GIC: have made their $2.86-a-share deal for National Storage Reit binding, signing a scheme implementation agreement that prices the trust at $4bn. If completed, it ends Brookfield’s seven-year chase, helped along by GIC joining the consortium. Ashurst are advising Brookfield and GIC and Clayton Utz are repping National Storage: AFR

Rio Tinto has slashed its decarbonisation budget to just US$1–2bn to 2030, down from US$7.5bn, arguing third-party renewables developers will instead underwrite $13.6bn of projects to power its mines and smelters. BHP slashed its decarbonisation spend from US$4bn to US$500m. Critics say the move leaves Rio and BHP overly reliant on others and puts 2030 targets at risk: AFR

Big miners say Labor’s National AI Plan could hand unions unprecedented sway over workplace tech, with the MCA warning the ACTU is using AI as a “stalking horse” to secure consultation and de-facto veto powers. Proposed changes to the Fair Work Act could force businesses to co-design AI systems with unions, a move miners fear would slow productivity and entrench union control: The Australian

Top managers at BlackRock, T. Rowe Price and WAM warn early signs of an AI bubble are emerging as developers shift from cash-funded capex to private credit. With borrowing needs soaring and government balance sheets stretched, leverage is rising across the system. Investors say the red flag will be when credit becomes the dominant fuel for AI: Capital Brief

Mastercard has rolled out a Credit Intelligence suite that uses its network data to help lenders make faster, sharper credit calls. With borrower consent, banks can layer these insights over bureau and telco data to assess thin-file customers. Already live in Australia, the US and the UAE, Mastercard says the tool will make lending smarter and more secure: Finextra

Woolworths is facing yet another class action, this time from Shine Lawyers, adding to the wage underpayment fallout that could cost the retailer hundreds of millions more. It follows a separate shareholder suit alleging Woolies misled investors for years by understating remediation liabilities. After Justice Perram’s record-keeping ruling, Woolies now pegs (as a preliminary estimate) its post-tax clean-up bill at up to $330m plus $140–$200m in super, interest and payroll tax: Lawyerly

Greg Goodman is launching a $5bn data-centre project at Eastern Creek, pivoting a former Coles warehouse site into two hyperscale facilities as demand surges. With rivals NextDC and AirTrunk also circling the precinct, power and water constraints loom large. But Goodman’s vast land bank means up to $10–$15bn in Sydney projects could follow: The Australian

Airwallex has raised US$330m at an US$8bn valuation. The round, led by Addition with big-name funds in tow, comes as the fintech sets up dual HQs in San Francisco and Singapore and plans to deploy US$1bn to scale its US push. The Melbourne-founded giant aims to grow headcount 50% by 2026 as it chases borderless banking: Capital Brief

LaunchVic is being axed after unlocking $1.5bn in private capital, with the Victorian government set to fold it into Breakthrough Victoria. Founders and VCs say the move risks dismantling years of momentum, arguing LaunchVic’s lean, transparent model outperformed Breakthrough’s slower, opaque approach. The merger follows a cost-cutting review: Capital Brief