The sirens finally – finally – appear to be wailing for Australia's tough cop on the corporate beat.
The chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, James Shipton, revealed to the royal commission on Friday morning that he has told his squad of crime fighters that they need a good reason not to launch legal action when a financial institution reports a breach.
The corporate regulator is allowing consultancy firms Deloitte, EY and PwC to police its enforcement regime for the big banks while they are paid millions for other consulting work, raising conflict concerns.
The dual role raises questions about the ability of the consultants to be truly independent when there is a larger, and ongoing, commercial relationship with the client, a problem that has been raised repeatedly by the banking royal commission over "independent reports" produced by Clayton Utzand EY.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, whose chairman James Shipton was accused of being too cosy with the banks on Thursday at the royal commission, was slammed in an interim report by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne for failing to take legal action against corporate wrongdoers.
The regulator's preference for "negotiated outcomes", often hard fought over years by the banks, meant misconduct often "went unpunished", Commissioner Hayne warned.
Edmund Tadros has the full story here.
Deloitte, EY and PwC have worked on multiple 'independent' roles involving the big banks.Credit:Ryan Stuart
The $78 million takeover bid for The Reject Shop is opportunistic and undervalues the value of the discount retail chain, according to its chairman.
William Stevens told investors on Thursday to reject the on-market bid launched by Raphael Geminder, the billionaire founder of the packaging giant Pact Group.
At $2.70 a share, the takeover bid is a 19 per cent premium to Reject Shop's one-month average price. However it's shares traded as high as $8.35 earlier this year, and have fallen sharply after an slump in sales and an earnings downgrade.
"The offer is opportunistic and undervalues the value of your shares based on the historical performance of the company and its future prospects," Mr Stevens said.
Patrick Hatch has the full story here.
The company told investors not to accept the takeover offer.
Australian shares are trading slightly higher at midday following a small rally through the morning.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index is trading 8.5 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 5,699.8.
ANZ is leading the market with a 1.4 per cent advance, Woolworths is up 1.8 per cent and Commonwealth Bank has lifted 0.6 per cent.
Costa Group has advanced 6.9 per cent, ARB Corp is up 5.2 per cent and Super Retail Group is trading 4 per cent higher.
CSL is down 1.4 per cent and weighing the market, BHP Billiton is down 0.9 per cent and Telstra Corp is 1.7 per cent.
Automotive Holdings Group is down 6.6 per cent, Technology One is down 6.3 per cent and CYBG is down 6.3 per cent also.
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has partnered with the CSIRO to develop new hydrogen fuel technologies.
Fortescue will invest $19 million over a five-year period into research at the CSIRO's Brisbane laboratories.
"We are at the beginning of an energy revolution and Fortescue intends to be at the forefront of this once-in-a- generation opportunity," Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest said.
Fortescue Metals chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said the hydrogen investment opens up new opportunities for the business and helps cut operational costs.
Cole Latimer has the full story here.
Andrew Forrest's iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group is investing in hydrogen fuel technology.Credit:Photo: Bohdan Warchomij
Mining giant BHP says it will fight an unprecedented English lawsuit filed by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians for multi-billion pound damages over Brazil's worst environmental disaster.
SPG Law, a British offshoot of a US litigator, represents 240,000 individuals in Brazil, 24 municipal governments, a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and members of the Krenak indigenous community, and has filed three legal claims for unlimited damages over the failure of the Fundao dam in 2015.
It looks set to be the largest group action heard in England.
London and Australian-listed BHP, the world's largest mining company by market value, said it had received correspondence from the law firm but also noted it had so far committed $US780 million ($1.1 billion) to the Renova Foundation, an entity created by the miner and its partners to manage reparations and repairs.
Read the full story here.
The 2015 disaster killed 19 people and spilled about 40 million cubic metres of sludge over Brazilian communities.Credit:Steve Yolen
Brickworks has acquired American brick manufacturer Glen-Gery in a deal worth $151 million ($US110 million), expanding its footprint into the United States.
Glen-Gery, based in central Pennsylvania, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ibstock and the fourth-largest brick manufacturer in the United States.
"We believe the transaction provides an ideal entry into the US market" with Glen-Gery leading the market in the country's northeast, buoyed by its "reputation for premium products and high exposure to the architectural market," managing director Lindsay Partridge said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.
Read the full story here.
Brickworks chief Lindsay Partridge says Australia's business environment has pushed the company to look for growth overseas.Credit:James Alcock
Cabcharge is getting some attention from prominent members of the funds management community, with Geoff Wilson and Ben Griffiths both warming to the unloved stock.
The timing is fortuitous, with Cabcharge's annual general meeting taking place on Thursday and the firm revealing an 11.6 per cent jump in revenue for the September quarter compared with a year ago.
Cabcharge, which will change its name to A2B, climbed 2.4 per cent to $2.16 on Thursday to bring price gains for its shares to almost 10 per cent in just over a week.
The stock remains well off its all-time high of $13.27, which it hit in May 2007, and continues to hover near all-time lows of $1.66.
But several influential investors believe there's more upside ahead for the stock.
Sarah Turner has the full story here.
Cabcharge CEO Andrew Skelton (pictured) is "engineering a turnaround" at the company, Ben Griffiths says.Credit:Ben Rushton
Australian shares have dipped at the open with a number of index heavyweights falling slightly lower inside the first few minutes of trading.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are slightly lower as are the major banks.
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Wall Street is closed for Thanksgiving but a gloom set over European markets, and it sets the stage for the ASX to open lower this morning, writes Kyle Rodda.
It's Thanksgiving in the US, so US traders are away from their desks and equity markets in the country are offline. Perhaps it's something the bulls can be thankful for: the holiday has resulted in very thin volumes across the globe, giving a subsequent ability to take pause from the unfolding market rout.
There is so much information awaiting market participants coming into the end of November and start of December, so surely the opportunity to distract oneself for now by gorging on roast turkey and a few beverages of choice is being welcomed by our American cousins.
Presumably, little can fix for too long the underlying anxiety caused by the myriad of fundamental concerns plaguing investors. But that's next week's problem, for now – better that we take stock while the American punters sift around for reasons to give thanks.
Read the full 8@eight here.