News

Signing on behalf of a company

Can employees sign a contract to bind their company? In daily business life it is often the case that a company employee who holds either an administrative, purchasing or financial position is entrusted with the responsibility of negotiating a contract. Then, when the negotiations are complete, that person is the individual required to sign the… Read More

Principal & Agent Paper 2019

The financing of lease contracts by way principal and agent (“P&A”) agreement is a common commercial technique to enhance for the supply of business equipment in Australia. The P&A structure permits a sale of goods where a transaction might not otherwise be possible. For example, a customer may not be able afford to acquire the… Read More

Positive credit reporting

What is positive credit reporting and does it matter? From 1 July 2018 the major banks (and any other authorised deposit taking institutions (ADI’s) with assets of at least $100 billion) will be required to supply to credit reporting bodies (CRBs) both negative and positive (‘comprehensive’) credit information about their open and active accounts. This… Read More

Penalty Clauses in Contracts

There was much media attention given recently to a decision of Australia’s High Court involving bank fees charged by the ANZ Bank, Andrews v Australian & New Zealand Banking Group Limited (‘the Bank case”). The main reason for the publicity was that the Court’s decision could affect just about everyone who has a bank account…. Read More

Privacy Laws and Small Business

We are living in the era of “Big Data”. Personal information is the new currency. Customer and user data comprise a valuable asset for business and government. Government access to personal information is ultimately about power and control. For business, the value of personal information lies in the potential for maximising efficiencies, improving productivity and… Read More