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☆ Australian regulator orders audit of bookmakers Sportsbet, Bet365
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Australia's financial crime watchdog on Thursday ordered an audit of Sportsbet, the country's largest online betting house operated by Flutter Entertainment (FLTRF.L), and British gambling firm Bet365 to assess their compliance with financing laws. External auditors must report within six months whether the firms are well placed to identify and mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing, conduct risk assessment, and have necessary oversight, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) said. Sportsbet continues to invest heavily in AML/CTF (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act) compliance and in our people, processes and systems." While Australia's gambling industry has been scrutinized in recent years due to alleged money laundering by its biggest casino operators, online betting has also come under the scanner as its prevalence boomed. Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Roushni Nair; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Two Turquoise Hill investors to withhold votes on Rio Tinto's $3.3 bln bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) on Wednesday said two key investors in Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) agreed to withhold their votes at a meeting to decide on the global miner's $3.3 billion offer for the Canadian firm. Pentwater, Turquoise's second-largest shareholder, and SailingStone Capital Partners will also exercise their dissent rights, and Rio will increase the dissent condition under its proposal to 17.5% of issued Turquoise Hill shares from 12.5%. Dissent rights allow shareholders to sell their stake at fair value if a company takes a decision that they do not agree with. Pentwater and SailingStone have been the most vocal in opposing Rio's C$43-per-share offer for the 49% of Turquoise Hill it does not already own as "too low". read moreTurquoise Hill earlier on Wednesday delayed a special shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed deal by a week to Nov. 8 at Rio Tinto's request.

☆ Australia pathology data stolen as hacking epidemic widens
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - One of Australia's largest pathology providers said hackers stole medical data of thousands of patients, the country's second such breach in two weeks, deepening fears about how companies collect sensitive customer information. 1 health insurer Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) said criminals took data of all 4 million of its customers. [ read more read moreACL said it first knew of unauthorised access to the IT system of its pathology unit, Medlab, in February and received advice that no information was compromised. 1 grocery chain Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW.AX) then revealed that the data of millions of customers using its bargain shopping website had been compromised. Australia has said it plans to fine companies up to A$50 million ($32 million) for failing to prevent data breaches, but Christie said damages awarded for thefts of medical data were typically higher than for other personal data because of non-economic harm like mental health repercussions.

☆ ANZ assessed $16 mln fine for withholding account benefits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) was fined A$25 million ($16 million) for failing to provide agreed benefits to certain customers with offset transaction accounts, Australia's market regulator and the lender said on Wednesday. The accounts, offered under ANZ's "Breakfree" package introduced in 2003, provided fee waivers, interest rate discounts on home loans, credit cards and transaction accounts, and other benefits in exchange for an annual fee. ANZ's offset transaction customers were entitled to interest rate reductions on eligible home and commercial loans, which were not always passed on, the ASIC said. "ANZ ... for many years failed to prioritise and deploy the systems and processes necessary to fulfil its obligations." "ANZ accepts that its conduct fell short of expectations and apologises to its customers who have been impacted," the lender said.

☆ ANZ faces $16 mln fine for withholding account benefits for 20 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) was fined A$25 million ($16 million) for failing to provide agreed benefits to customers with offset transaction accounts under its 'Breakfree' package, Australia's market regulator said on Wednesday. The Breakfree package, introduced in 2003, offered fee waivers, interest rate discounts on home loans, credit cards and transaction accounts and other benefits in exchange for paying an annual fee. ANZ's offset transaction customers were entitled to interest rate reductions on eligible home and commercial loans, which were not always passed on, the ASIC said. "ANZ ... for many years failed to prioritise and deploy the systems and processes necessary to fulfil its obligations." ($1 = 1.5657 Australian dollars)Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi, additional reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Corporate Australia suffers fourth major hack since September
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australian Clinical Labs (ACL.AX) said on Thursday its Medlab Pathology business suffered a data breach that affected about 223,000 accounts, marking corporate Australia's fourth major hack since September. "Given the highly complex and unstructured nature of the data-set being investigated, it has taken the forensic analysts and experts until now to determine the individuals and the nature of their information involved," ACL said. The ACSC also notified the company in June that Medlab's information had been posted on the dark web, which ACL subsequently sought to find and permanently remove. "We apologise sincerely and deeply regret that this incident occurred... We want to assure all individuals involved that ACL is committed to providing every reasonable support to them," ACL Chief Executive Officer Melinda McGrath said. Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's Medibank estimates about $22 mln hit from data breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), Australia's biggest health insurer, warned of a A$25 million to A$35 million ($16 million to $22.3 million) hit to first-half earnings from costs related to a data breach that compromised data of all its customers. It said on Wednesday that personal and significant amounts of health claims data of all its customers was compromised in the breach reported earlier this month, a day after it warned the number of customers affected would grow. read moreMedibank, which covers one-sixth of Australians, said the estimated cost did not include further potential remediation or regulatory expenses. Medibank, which also withdrew its fiscal 2023 policyholder growth forecast, reported an after-tax profit of about A$394 million for fiscal 2022 in August. ($1 = 1.5664 Australian dollars)Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian health insurer Medibank says all customers' personal data compromised
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), Australia's biggest health insurer, said on Wednesday personal and some health claims data of all its customers was compromised in a cybersecurity breach reported this month. Medibank also withdrew its fiscal 2023 forecast for policyholder growth and said it expects a hit of A$25 million to A$35 million ($16 million to $22.3 million) to first-half earnings from costs related to the hack. ($1 = 1.5664 Australian dollars)Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Paying off hackers is common, says top Australian govt cybersecurity firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Corporate insurers routinely pay hackers a ransom for the return of stolen customer data, a top Australian government cybersecurity provider said on Tuesday, as the country's biggest health insurer revealed the growing scale of a recent breach. "In what other sphere of life do you see reputable corporates pay millions of dollars to criminals and somehow it's all okay?" On Tuesday, Medibank said the criminal had shown data of another 1,000 customers and added that the number was likely to grow. 2 telco, Singapore Telecommunciations Ltd-owned (STEL.SI) Optus, said last month about 10 million customer accounts, equivalent to 40% of the Australian population, had data taken by a hacker demanding payment. The federal government has meanwhile said it would introduce fines of up to A$50 million for companies on the receiving end of data breaches.

It said on Wednesday that all personal and significant amounts of health claims data of all its customers were compromised in the breach reported this month, a day after it warned the number of customers affected would grow. Medibank, which covers one-sixth of Australians, said the estimated cost did not include further potential remediation or regulatory expenses. "Our investigation has now established that this criminal has accessed all our private health insurance customers' personal data and significant amounts of their health claims data," chief executive David Koczkar said in a statement. Medibank, which also withdrew its fiscal 2023 policyholder growth forecast, reported an after-tax profit of about A$394 million for fiscal 2022 in August. A person claiming to be behind the Optus hack later withdrew the demand over concerns about publicity.

☆ Australia's No. 1 health insurer warns more patient data stolen in hack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest health insurer Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) said it expected the number of customers affected by a massive data breach to grow, after it discovered policy records of a further 1,000 customers had been stolen. Medibank, which provides coverage to one-sixth of Australians, said last week an unidentified person had shown the company stolen personal information of a 100 customers, including medical diagnoses and procedures. read moreOn Tuesday, the company said it had received more files from the criminal, showing information including personal and health claims data of more patients as well as files with some Medibank and international student customer data. 2 telco Optus (STEL.SI), which compromised the data of up to 10 million customers. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Engine No. 1 held talks with Coca-Cola on new recycling initiatives - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shashwat Awasthi | Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

1 has held talks with Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) about steps the soda giant could take to ramp up recycling of its cans and bottles, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. 1 partner responsible for getting three seats at Exxon, brought the Coca-Cola idea to Engine No. 1 from Jana Partners where he had been researching it, another source told Reuters. 1 has suggested a partnership between Coca-Cola and garbage collection and recycling company Republic Services Inc (RSG.N), in which Engine No. Coca-Cola and Republic did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The entrance to the headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, in Siena, Italy, August 11, 2021. Rome failed to meet an initial EU deadline when talks to sell MPS to UniCredit (CRDI.MI) collapsed a year ago. One of the sources said UniCredit and Banco BPM are still seen in Rome as the best options for MPS. Investor commitments cover more than half of the up to 900 million euro portion of MPS's share sale that will not be funded by the state. Five years after spending 5.4 billion euros to rescue MPS Italy is having to pump another 1.6 billion euros into the bank.

☆ Eli Lilly to buy genetic medicine developer Akouos for $487 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shashwat Awasthi | Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) will acquire genetic medicine developer Akouos Inc (AKUS.O) in a cash deal worth about $487 million. Lilly will also pay Akouos' shareholders an additional amount of about $610 million contingent on certain events related to its trials. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The logo of Toshiba Corp is displayed atop of the company's facility building in Kawasaki, Japan, June 24, 2022. JIP's initial offer was below 6,000 yen per share, the two sources told Reuters, putting the value of a potential tender offer at less than 2.6 trillion yen ($17.5 billion). Investors have considered 6,000 yen to be a key threshold. During a strategic review last year, at least one global private equity firm told Toshiba's review committee that a deal to take the conglomerate private could be done at 6,000 yen a share or more. In Japan, the court-led rehabilitation of auto parts supplier Marelli Holdings Co Ltd - owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) - has turned banks cautious about terms for financing leveraged buyouts, private equity sources said.

☆ Engine No. 1 takes stake in Coca-Cola, pushes for better recycling- Semafor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shashwat Awasthi | Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

1 has taken a small stake in Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) and is pushing the soda giant to ramp up its efforts to recycle more of its cans and bottles, newly launched global news platform Semafor reported on Tuesday. The investor has suggested a partnership between Coca-Cola and garbage collection and recycling company Republic Services Inc (RSG.N), in which Engine No. 1 holds a stake, the report said, adding that Coke executives have reached out to Republic. Coca-Cola, Engine No. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meta accepts UK order to sell Giphy after antitrust battle
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shashwat Awasthi | Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meta said it would accept the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) order to unwind the 2020 deal. "We are disappointed by the CMA's decision but accept today's ruling as the final word on the matter," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. Meta appealed the ruling, but a tribunal upheld the CMA's decision on five out of six grounds in June. The CMA said it had considered new submissions from Meta and Giphy and additional evidence since the appeal, but had not changed its view. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Australian miner New Hope (NHC.AX) said on Wednesday it was not part of a consortium with private-equity firms Oaktree Capital Management and Brookfield (BAMa.TO), which according to a report was bidding for Aurizon's (AZJ.AX) East Coast Rail business. read moreAurizon declined to comment on the media report on Wednesday, but pointed to its annual general meeting held last week at which it said the divestment process was "well advanced" and that it would announce a decision next month. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBrookfield declined to comment on the media report. Shares in coal miner New Hope fell 7% after rival Whitehaven Coal's (WHC.AX) weak quarterly production update. ($1 = 1.5820 Australian dollars)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Upasana Singh; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Whitehaven Coal output slumps 23% as floods sweep New South Wales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Upasana Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Severe wet weather including floods in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, disrupted mining operations as the country suffered for a third straight year from the La Nina induced adverse weather. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterManaged run-of-mine coal production was 4 Mt for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 5.2 Mt a year ago and brokerage Barrenjoey's estimate of 5 Mt. Whitehaven said its annual output at Maules Creek was on track to be at the lower end of its 11.7 million tonnes to 12.6 million tonnes (Mt) forecast. Its shares fell as much as 7.1% to A$9.67, underperforming the broader market (.AXJO), which rose 0.4%. "Looking locally, a number of weather events impacted coal producers during the September quarter, which together with the forecasted La Niña weather patterns, has further bolstered support for strong coal prices out of East Coast Australia," Whitehaven said.

☆ Australia's Medibank drops after ransomware attack in IT network
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) dived nearly 5% on Monday even after the Australian health insurer assured clients that normal business operations have resumed following an attempted ransomware attack on its network. Shares of Medibank fell as much as 4.8% to A$3.350, their lowest level since July 19. read more read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMedibank said last Thursday it would isolate and remove access to some customer-facing systems after it detected unusual activity on its network. read moreThe company said its investigation indicated that its cyber security systems had detected activity "consistent with the precursor to a ransomware event" but that its systems were not encrypted by ransomware. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Roushni Nair; editing by Diane Craft, Will Dunham and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's Tyro Payments shares jump on takeover talks with Westpac, others
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Australia's Tyro Payments Ltd (TYR.AX) confirmed on Tuesday it was in preliminary takeover talks with selected parties, including no.3 lender Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), sending shares of the payment terminals firm up more than 5%. Tyro last month rejected a A$1.27 per share indicative offer from a private equity consortium led by Potentia Capital Management. Westpac on Tuesday separately confirmed the talks in a brief statement and said a potential deal would strengthen its small business proposition. "From a Tyro perspective, it's clear that Westpac would have significantly more synergies than the PE consortium. He said the logic of synergies from a deal for Tyro should also apply to Westpac's rivals National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and Australia an New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX).

☆ Australia's Medibank says normal operations resume after ransomware attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Australian health insurer Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) said on Monday normal business operations had resumed after an attempted ransomware attack and reaffirmed that there was no evidence that customer data had been removed from the network. Medibank said last Thursday it would isolate and remove access to some customer-facing systems after it detected unusual activity on its network. There was no indication that the incident was caused by a "state-based threat actor", the company said, adding that an investigation into the incident would continue. It said its business was tracking in line with its fiscal 2023 forecast and would be unaffected by the incident. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shashwat Awasthi; editing by Diane Craft and Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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