Shaking Up Insolvency I was reading with great interest, the article entitled “Investors win in insolvency shake-up” in the AFR on 3 June 2011. The article discusses the Federal Government’s proposals to change the way liquidators, administrators and insolvency firms are appointed, terminated and how their […]

Who are the Winners and Losers? Following my previous blog on the subject of the Government’s proposed financial planning reforms, I have been asked to identify who will be the winners and who will be the losers if the changes proceed. In order to answer this, […]

Why Does It Matter? Investors are often infuriated with entrepreneurs that don't understand what they have and where what they have fits in.  Entrepreneurs are often infuriated that investors don't like startups which isn't exactly true. If you want to attract investment then you'd better […]

Does It Need Reforming? There is a big battle going on between some parts of the financial planning industry and the Federal Government (Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten) about the need to reform the financial planning industry. Firstly, I need to admit that I have operated […]

Will High Profile Cases Prevent Future Insider Trading? I was interviewed last week regarding the stories of Sri Lankan-born Raj Rajaratnam, head of the Galleon Group in the US or young Sydney equities dealer John Hartman, both found guilty of insider trading. The journalist wanted […]

Big Banks Profits Under Pressure I was reading the interesting Chanticleer article in the Easter edition of the Australian Financial Review on Friday entitled “Big Banks’ days in the sun could be numbered”. The basic premise of this article is that the current run of high […]

Are Alarm Bells Enough? Yesterday's report in the Sydney Morning Herald regarding Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) vs Professional Investment Services (PIS) is both interesting and alarming. ASIC conducted a surveillance visit back in 2006 and PIS agreed in an enforceable undertaking that it […]

2+2=5 A number of people have asked me about synergy (which is described in most business strategy books as making 2 + 2 = 5) and what it means from a corporate perspective. This subject was brought back into focus in a recent article in the […]

Is ASIC on the Right Track? The Australian Securities & Investments Commission's ("ASIC") findings in their consultation papers released yesterday will come as no surprise to any company directors. ASIC have suggested that boards should disclose all dealings between a company and someone with a […]

Are You Confused About Debt & Equity? It has recently been announced that Santos (a major Australian oil services company) is soon to raise over $500 million (denominated in Euro) from European investors by means of  a financial  instrument that is effectively a bond (in […]