The ACCC has expressed concern about the potential for an accounting software monopoly arising from MYOB’s proposed acquisition of Reckon’s Accountants Group. [Related: MYOB to buy a slice of Reckon for $180m] “If MYOB acquired Reckon’s Accountants Group, it would likely be the only supplier of practice software suitable for medium to large accounting firms,” […]
The OECD has found that penalties for competition law breaches are ‘significantly lower’ in Australia than in comparable OECD jurisdictions, prompting the nation’s competition regulator to announce it will rethink its approach to competition law enforcement. The OECD report, Pecuniary Penalties for Competition Law Infringements in Australia(link is external) compared the penalties for companies which breach […]
The ACCC has initiated proceedings in the Federal Court against Equifax (formerly Veda), alleging the credit reporting bureau made false or misleading representations to consumers between June 2013 and March 2017, in breach of consumer laws. Allegations include that Equifax claimed that its paid credit reports were more comprehensive than free reports, when they were not. […]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released an issues paper for public comment, signalling the launch of its inquiry into the effect digital platforms such as Facebook and Google are having on competition in media and advertising services markets. As part of the inquiry, which was announced in December, the ACCC is seeking feedback […]
Small businesses contacted the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) nearly 5000 times in the second half of 2017, up from 3700 in the preceding six months, according to a new report. The ACCC’s latest Small business in focus report, covering July to December 2017, shows small businesses made 2365 enquiries to the Commission along […]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will conduct an inquiry into the effect digital platforms such as Facebook and Google are having on competition in media and advertising services markets. ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said the commission will examine whether digital search engines, social media platforms and other digital content aggregation platforms are exercising […]
A survey of 1280 SME operators has found that nearly half (49.6%) had relied on unfair contract terms legislation, implemented last year, to negotiate fairer terms with big businesses during the past six months. Conducted by East & Partners, the SME Transaction Banking survey also showed that nearly four in five respondents (78.2%) were aware […]
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) says its only at the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of its efforts to ensure small businesses are not subject to unfair contract terms. Since 12 November last year, when unfair contract terms laws were extended to small business contracts, the ACCC has taken successful court action […]
The Federal Court has found that accommodation provider Meriton engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by implementing a strategy to minimise the number of negative reviews its guests posted on the TripAdvisor website. In November 2016, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) instituted proceedings against Meriton in the Federal Court, alleging that between November […]
Telstra will compensate around 42,000 customers after advising the ACCC that the maximum speeds promised by some of its National Broadband Network (NBN) plans could not be achieved in real-world conditions. Between September 2015 and November 2017, Telstra advertising a range of NBN speed plans including one that offered maximum download speeds of up to […]
