The Federal Court found Nicholas Karantzis, former CEO of iSignthis, twice breached s 180(1) of the Crops Act by failing to exercise reasonable care and diligence. First, in 2018, Karantzis knowingly misrepresented or recklessly withheld revenue breakdowns during an analyst briefing. The Court said he should have ensured this information was disclosed, and that his actions were a serious departure from the care and diligence expected from a director, regardless of whether the share price was impacted. Second, in 2020, Karantzis breached s 674(2A) by being involved in the company’s failure to disclose Visa’s termination of its relationship with iSignthis. The Court held this was an event requiring disclosure, and he breached his directors’ duties by authorising or permitting the company to commit contraventions of the Corporations Act.

A managing director was wrongly terminated for alleged serious misconduct, with the Federal Court finding the employer's "opinion" under the contract was so unreasonable that no fair-minded person could’ve formed it. Goldstone PE tried to sack Ms Commins based on nine shaky allegations — ranging from botched admin to misuse of info from a prior directorship — but none stacked up. Jackman J said the misconduct had to relate to Goldstone, not third parties, and criticised the attempt to cast Commins as a “James Bond villain.” The court ruled the termination invalid, meaning she remained employed and her board removals were void, too. A clear reminder: serious misconduct needs more than serious suspicion.

AICD, AIRA, the Law Council and Governance Institute have released a joint guide to help listed companies run smarter AGMs using tech. It wraps insights from 3 years of virtual and hybrid meetings under the amended Corps Act. The guide covers notice requirements, member participation, voting processes and contingency planning, with practical tips to lift standards and cut compliance risks.

London lawyers are taking home much more than their Sydney counterparts. 2-3x to be exact. Sydney top-tier lawyers on $120k at 1PQE, while London NQs at Clifford Chance and A&O rake in $315k. And the targets? Pretty much the same—1700 to 1800 annually. What are you choosing?

Legal AI rising star Harvey has raised $300m at a $5bn valuation, just months after its previous $300m round in February. Backed by OpenAI and Sequoia, Harvey is now live in 53 countries, working with KKR, Verizon, and major banks. CEO Winston Weinberg says the cash will fuel global expansion and massive product investment: Artificial Lawyer

A growing chorus is urging firms to look beyond lawyers for leadership. As AI, pricing pressure, and global integration reshape the industry, experts say firms need leaders with sophisticated management skills, not just big books of business. But as Bayes Business School’s Laura Empson puts it, law firms are still better at copying each other than learning from outside: Financial Times

But Kennedys has its leaders covered. The global firm has appointed Tracy Watkinson, ex-NatWest and Barclays, as its first Chief Operating Officer. With 25 years in banking, she’ll lead operational strategy across the firm. It’s a major move as Kennedys builds out its business services bench to match its global growth push: Kennedys

NATO’s 32 members have bowed to Trump’s push for a 5% of GDP defence target by 2035, more than doubling the old 2% benchmark. The pact includes core military spend plus infrastructure upgrades. Some EU nations are already baulking, but Russia’s threat and Trump’s unpredictability mean no one wants to be caught short. A 2029 review will track who’s keeping up: The Australian

Sussan Ley is a self-proclaimed “zealot” about getting more women into Parliament, but stops short of backing quotas. She’ll leave that fight to the states and instead focus on personally recruiting female candidates. With just 20% of Lib MPs being women (compared to Labor’s 50%), Ley admits current methods clearly aren’t working: Guardian

Despite Trump’s boast, a Pentagon intel leak says Iran’s nuclear program is only delayed by months, not destroyed. The US used $71bn in military gear and spent $216m on munitions during the B2 bombing run. The White House says the assessment’s “flat-out wrong”, but the ceasefire with Iran is holding, just: The Economist

PointsBet: says Betr knocked itself out of blocking Mixi’s $1.20/share takeover, after a Betr exec allegedly logged into the scheme meeting and revoked its proxy vote. Betr denies it, claiming the vote was valid and “impermissibly excluded”. A Federal Court fight looms today. Until… PointsBet announced, that due to a system error on Computershare’s part, the proxy was not actually revoked as previously advised by Computershare. MIXI’s deal that initially went through with 95% of votes cast, without Betr’s 19.9% stake — now shut down, not meeting the requisite majorities. Now MIXI lobs its takeover bid…grab your popcorn folks: AFR, ASX

Rex’s administrators: have extended their watch to December, amid a sluggish sale process. While Anchorage Capital is circling, experts say a private equity deal could backfire politically—think quick flip, big profits, and another taxpayer-funded rescue if it tanks. With $160m+ of government support already in, Canberra may prefer keeping control over risking another Dick Smith-style collapse: The Australian

Humm: has received a $286m bid buyout bid by its chairman, Andrew Abercrombie. His family office is offering 58¢ a share—a 35% premium. He’s Humm’s founder, largest shareholder (26.4%), and famously fought off Latitude’s 2022 bid. Now he’s back for a turnaround play, with MinterEllison and Gresham in his corner. K&L Gates is advising the board: AFR

Mineral Resources could rake in up to $1.1bn by selling 10–15% of its mining services arm, per Morgan Stanley. Analysts also flagged options like offloading its haul road stake or Onslow loan receivables. With debt set to halve by FY26 and EBITDA rising, the sell-down could offer breathing room amid a bruising 60% share price fall. Ouch: The Australian

AVZ Minerals is restarting its international arbitration against the Democratic Republic of Congo over the Manono lithium project, after a failed settlement attempt. The standoff threatens KoBold Metals’ plans to buy AVZ’s stake in one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium assets. AVZ says the DRC ignored outreach during a pause in the proceedings: MiningWeekly

Zip Co is asking the High Court to clear up what it calls a “glaring inconsistency” in how honest concurrent use is applied in trademark disputes. It wants to overturn a ruling in favour of Firstmac, arguing that the Full Federal Court wrongly gave subjective honesty little weight, setting up a clash with the Katy Perry precedent. KWM reps Zip Co: Lawyerly

Worldline shares plunged 23% after a media investigation alleged it turned a blind eye to high-risk clients and covered up fraud by shifting shady clients across jurisdictions to dodge detection. The payments giant, worth €1.3bn pre-crash, denies wrongdoing and says its fraud rate is below industry average: Capital Brief

Lendlease is preparing to sell its 50% stake in Erina Fair, joining Korea’s NPS to offer the entire $800m centre to market. The move sets up Australia’s biggest retail sale this year, as fund managers like Scentre, Vicinity and Mirvac circle. The 112,000sqm centre sits on prime developable land, drawing 11 million customers annually: The Australian

With licences back in hand, Blackstone says Crown’s compliance rehab is done, and now it’s all about upgrading the “fun stuff” — hotels, dining and guest experience. It’s already sunk $500m into Crown, with eateries like Golden Century and Marmont. No asset carve-up planned; the strategy is all-in on integrated resorts: AFR

US PE firm Riverside has taken a majority stake in the Brisbane software co Dingo, which makes predictive maintenance software for miners and wind farms. The play reportedly values Dingo at $150m+. Riverside, fresh off a $1.6bn exit from Energy Exemplar, will back Dingo’s AI push and global expansion, with CEO Charles Forrest and founder Paul Higgins staying on.

Bumble is laying off 240 people, or 30% of its global team, as part of a platform overhaul. Gen Z’s losing interest in dating apps, dragging engagement and valuation — Bumble’s down from a US$15bn IPO high to just US$500m. Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is back as CEO, betting that better matchmaking will bring users (and revenue) back: Reuters