Publication
UK Pensions Briefing | A shake up of all things DC, starting with retirement options
DC pension saving will see new duties, new standards and greater support for savers. We look at decumulation first.
Australia | Publication | February 2025
The article is co-authored by Tiffany Austin.
On 20 February 2025, now halfway through her initial tenure as Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Gina Cass-Gottlieb unveiled the ACCC’s 2025-26 compliance and enforcement priorities. The overarching theme of the priorities this year is addressing the growing challenge of market concentration in the Australian economy, spanning the supermarkets, retail and aviation sectors as well as many essential services including telecommunications, electricity and gas – sectors the ACCC views as having a significant impact on the cost of living and doing business in Australia.
Other priorities identified recognise the ongoing potential for digital transformation and disruption and the transition to net zero to open the door to misleading and deceptive conduct and consumer welfare issues. Greenwashing, for example, continues to be a key investigation and enforcement priority.
Overall, the themes for the upcoming year are fairly familiar. It is clear that another real focus of the ACCC over that period will be successfully implementing the changes to the merger control regime. In her speech announcing the priorities, Ms Cass-Gottlieb also took the opportunity to remind business of the impact the upcoming merger reforms will have on their activities. She also mentioned the ACCC’s continued advocacy for the introduction of a prohibition on ‘unfair trading practices’, to cover concerning business conduct that is not currently illegal, but distorts consumer decision-making, causing harm and eroding trust.
Some of the ACCC’s key enforcement and compliance priorities include:
The new merger regime will come into effect from 1 January 2026, however voluntary notification is available from 1 July 2025. The shift from a voluntary, judicially enforced model to a mandatory, administrative regime places the ACCC as the first instance decision-maker on each notified acquisition – a significant change to its operations for which the ACCC will have to prepare over the coming year. The ACCC will commence consultation on draft process guidelines and draft analytical guidelines before the end of March 2025 to assist businesses with the transition arrangements.
For further insights into the operation of the new merger control regime and how it may affect your business, please refer to our previous publication.
We work with our clients to advise on these matters on a daily basis. Please contact us for further information, assistance or customised training via our award-winning online legal compliance training program, Compliance Manager.
Publication
DC pension saving will see new duties, new standards and greater support for savers. We look at decumulation first.
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The SFO’s new cooperation guidance SFO Corporate Guidance - GOV.UK (published on 24 April) updates the SFO’s original cooperation guidance published in 2019 and comes ahead of the new failure to prevent fraud offence coming into force in September 2025 (see here: Failure to prevent fraud: What should you be doing before September? | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright).
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In For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the definitions of “man”, “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a person’s biological sex.
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