DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

SYDNEY, May 31 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will not sign any new contracts with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia until a scandal over the firm's misuse of confidential government tax plans is sorted out, the central bank's governor said on Wednesday. The "big four" firm is on the defense after a former Australian tax partner who was consulting with the government on laws to prevent corporate tax avoidance shared confidential drafts with colleagues to drum up business around the world. As of May 16, the government had committed to contracts worth A$255 million ($173 million) with PwC in the current financial year alone, a finance department official told a parliamentary hearing last week. "(We) have taken the decision to enter no new contracts with PwC until a satisfactory response has been forthcoming," Lowe said. APRA had also spoken with major Australian banks about their ties to PwC, as recently as last week, added Lonsdale.

Persons: Philip Lowe, " Lowe, John Lonsdale, Lonsdale, Steven Kennedy, Kristin Stubbins, PwC, Lewis Jackson, Sonali Paul Organizations: SYDNEY, Reserve Bank of Australia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA, prudential, Thomson Locations: Australia, Australian

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Australia's Treasury department may not renew a A$1 million audit contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) when it ends this year, an official told a senate hearing amid a scandal over the firm's misuse of confidential government tax plans. Amid calls to ban the firm from lucrative government contracts, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy told senators on Tuesday the breach was "clearly disturbing" and the department would review a PwC audit contract worth almost A$1 million that expires at the end of this year. PwC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the audit contract. Treasury officials told senators confidentiality agreements had been updated and the department had written to PwC and 25 other firms to ask whether their governance processes were suitable for confidential tax consultations in the wake of the PwC tax leak. Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Australian senators will use parliamentary hearings this week to demand accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) name staff and clients who were in on the "big four" firm's misuse of confidential government tax plans. No confidential information was used to help clients pay less tax, it said in the statement on Monday. The cache of emails between 2014 and 2017 discuss how confidential drafts of new rules were used to seek work with U.S. technology companies, among others. The parliamentary committee will hear from the Australian Tax Office and the Tax Practitioners Board and Treasury, which last week referred the matter to police for a possible criminal investigation. Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Binance Australia customers seen selling bitcoin at discount to rival exchanges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Bitcoin prices on the Australian arm of Binance, the world's largest crypto-currency exchange, were almost A$9,000 lower than prices on rival exchanges on Tuesday, in a sign customers were seeking to exit their positions quickly. The price of the world's biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin , was at around A$34,000($23,062.20) on Binance Australia, compared with A$43,000 on BTC Markets, an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange. Bitcoin was quoted at $27,790 outside Australia. Earlier this month, the Binance unit said some customers in Australia will not be able to deposit or withdraw money after a third-party service provider cut off its service. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore and Lewis Jackson Editing by Vidya RanganathanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

In an open letter, acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins said she wanted to apologise on behalf of the firm for "sharing confidential government tax policy information", and said nine partners had been directed to take leave. PwC agreed to stand down from government work any implicated staff a day later. The heart of the issue is that a then-partner on tax at PwC shared confidential information with colleagues while advising the government on new rules to crack down on tax minimisation by multinational companies. Asked on Monday whether the firm should release the names of those with access to confidential information, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for more transparency pending the police investigation. No clients were involved in any wrongdoing and no confidential information had been used to help clients pay less tax, the firm said.

☆ A New York university fired two employees after they included their pronouns in work emails, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Houghton University has dismissed 2 employees over the usage of pronouns in emails, per The New York Times. Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot pointed to their gender-neutral names in explaining their use of pronouns. A university spokesperson told The Times said the institution has never "solely" terminated anyone over pronoun usage. Zelaya and Wilmot told The Times they had a reason for choosing to utilize pronouns in their emails, pointing to their gender-neutral names that sometimes cause people to misgender. The firings at Houghton University are the latest flashpoint amid an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation and movements across the country.

2 mortgage provider has told mortgage brokers that "if a customer is unable to meet serviceability under the standard assessment criteria", it might apply a modified serviceability assessment rate. Since the buffer is a guideline, banks are allowed to deviate from it. "APRA should consider officially lowering the serviceability buffer for refinancers." Representatives for Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) and ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cool Tribal Tattoo. Is It From the ’90s?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Joseph Bernstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Sometimes there will be a week of nothing but tribal,” said Mr. Bast, 30, whose long hair and neo-Deadhead style give him the look of an Online Ceramics model. Just as those seeking tribal tattoos 20 and 30 years ago were drawn to the aesthetics of an exoticized, ancient culture, so too are many of the new, Gen Z tribal fans: specifically, to the years 1997 to 2004, and their curious folkways. That is the cultural period Aesthetics Wiki defines as “Y2K,” an era that is in the process of being strip-mined by cool internet people under 30 for outfit ideas, design trends and general vibes. “The street culture pages on social media are relentless in the way they upload ’90s and 2000s content,” said Lewis James Dixon, who runs Cold Archive, a social media research firm and brand consultancy. For some of these customers — and some of the tattoo artists — a dash of authentic ’90s bad taste is the whole idea.

☆ Australian grandmother tasered by police in critical condition
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, May 19 (Reuters) - A 95-year-old grandmother who Australian police tasered at a retirement home is in critical condition as the homicide squad join a high-profile investigation into the incident, police said on Friday. "At the time she was tasered, she was approaching police but it is fair to say at a slow pace," Cotter said during a press conference. Nowland, who suffers from dementia, had wandered the facility for several hours and taken the knife from the kitchen. She is in a critical condition in hospital, fading in and out of consciousness, sparking a public uproar over the incident. Body cameras recorded the encounter but it was not in the public interest to release the footage because of the investigation, he said.

☆ Binance Australia says banking disrupted after payment provider cuts off service
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, May 18 (Reuters) - The Australian arm of Binance, the world's largest crypto-currency exchange, on Thursday said some local customers will be unable to deposit or withdraw money after a third-party payment provider cut off its service. Binance on social media said users are unable to make Australian dollar deposits by bank transfer with immediate effect. "We are working hard to find an alternative provider to continue offering AUD deposits and withdrawals to our users," Binance said in a statement. The Australian Financial Review reported the provider was Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), the country's second-largest retail bank. Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Electric vehicles sales are already trending up, accounting for 8% of all car sales in April, up from 1.1% a year earlier. DEMAND UNCERTAINTYDespite the government's EV push, uncertainty remains over how tough its vehicle emission standards will be. The challenge is the expansion of public chargers, especially in regional areas, where the power infrastructure to support fast chargers is often scarce or absent. The country's public chargers tend to be underpowered, with 0.5 kilowatts of public charging per EV versus an average 2.4 kw worldwide. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsExpansion of public chargers is slow as operators face long delays connecting to the grid.

Copper ore and concentrate imports are likely to resume if the talks go well, according to an official surnamed Wang at a Chinese copper smelter, who said smelters want extra supply from Australia. Australian copper accounted for just 5% of Chinese imports in 2019 but is an important source of supply in what is expected to become a tight global market. Australian copper returns to ChinahereChinese customs data showed 10kg (22.05 lb) of copper ore and concentrate in the first quarter of this year, roughly the same as 2022. China imported just over one million tonnes of copper ore and concentrate from Australia in 2019, according to customs data. Australian trade data showed A$78,000 worth of barley exports to China in January, the first since November 2020.

REUTERS/Siyi LiuAustralian trade data shows exports worth A$60.5 million ($41.04 million) of copper ore and concentrate to China in January, though the cargoes have not appeared in Chinese customs data. It was the first month of exports since December 2020, Australian data showed. Copper ore and concentrate imports are likely to resume if the talks go well, according to an official surnamed Wang at a Chinese copper smelter, who said smelters want extra supply from Australia. China imported just over one million tonnes of copper ore and concentrate from Australia in 2019, according to customs data, worth about $1.67 billion at the time. Australian trade data showed A$78,000 worth of barley exports to China in January, the first since November 2020.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson confirmed the contents of the internal email. A Bain Capital spokesperson declined to comment. "I can also confirm the IPO planning is well advanced," Cotton said in the email to staff seen by Reuters. Virgin Australia Chief Executive Jayne Hrdlicka said on Monday that she would take several weeks of leave to spend time with family after the death of her husband from cancer. Bain Capital bought Virgin Australia in 2020 after it was placed in voluntary administration, the closest Australian equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

☆ Cold snap brings early snow, high wind to Australia's southeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tania Heuning/via REUTERSSYDNEY, May 8 (Reuters) - Winter has come early to Australia with a cold front bringing high winds, snow and hail to the southeast in a cold snap the weather bureau says could last until the middle of the week. Snow fell in Oberon, about 120 km (75 miles) west of Sydney, on Monday, as the weather bureau warned sheep farmers across the southeast and in alpine areas that their animals exposed to the cold wet conditions could die. "I didn't expect it to be this thick," Oberon resident Wendy Stanton said of the snow. "It sort of started early yesterday afternoon and it just kept going and by the time I got up, everything was just covered in snow." The cold front across the southeast began over the weekend with temperatures plunging well below the average for the month, according to the weather bureau, which forecast morning frosts would linger until early Wednesday.

SYDNEY, May 2 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest landlords and developers played down concerns about inflated commercial property valuations at a conference on Tuesday, while acknowledging economic uncertainty was making investors and renters more cautious. Premium buildings coupled with signs workers were returning to offices should help protect the portfolio, said chief investment officer Ross Du Vernet. "It doesn't really make a lot of sense," Du Vernet said at the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney. Du Vernet declined to provide a price guide. That question was making large leases harder to lock in years ahead of time, Du Vernet said.

☆ Australia's Optus hit with class action over cybersecurity breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, April 21 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 current and former customers have joined a class action lawsuit against Australian telecommunications giant Optus over a cybersecurity breach last year that compromised roughly 1.2 million customers, lawyers said on Friday. Optus will defend itself in the class action, said a spokesperson in an emailed statement. Members want compensation for the time and money required to replace identify documents and for distress, frustration and disappointment caused by the breach. Slater and Gordon Class Actions Practice Group Leader Ben Hardwick said the breach had potentially put vulnerable customers at risk of domestic violence and other crimes. “Very real risks were created by the disclosure of this private information that Optus customers had every right to believe was securely protected by their telecommunications and internet provider,” Mr Hardwick said.

☆ Hybrid solar eclipse draws thousands to remote Australian town
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, April 20 (Reuters) - A rare hybrid solar eclipse over a remote town on Australia's west coast drew thousands on Thursday to witness the event. Astronomy fans and enthusiasts from around the world travelled to Exmouth, a tiny beachside town roughly 1,200 kilometers from state capital Perth, to witness the total solar eclipse. Thursday's eclipse was a rare "hybrid" type, not seen worldwide since 2013. In a hybrid eclipse, depending on where viewers stand, the moon either blots out the sun, a total eclipse, or obscures the center while leaving a ring of light visible, an annular eclipse. While the total eclipse was only visible from a few parts of Australia, Indonesia and Timor Leste, a partial eclipse was visible across all three countries and parts of southeast Asia.

SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - The lawyer for an Australian charged with foreign interference said his client had become "very worried" about two alleged foreign intelligence agents while living in Shanghai and returned to Australia after a decade-long career in China. Csergo is alleged to have accepted cash for writing reports, which Australian federal police say contained information about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had searched Csergo's laptop and WeChat accounts upon his return from Shanghai, the court was told. "The Chinese did not want it to be known they were making these inquiries and receiving these reports," Barko commented. Csergo, 55, appeared in court via video link from Parklea Prison where he is being held as a high security prisoner.

SYDNEY, April 15 (Reuters) - The second person ever charged with violating Australia's foreign interference laws appeared in a local court on Saturday following his arrest a day earlier. Court documents reviewed by Reuters on Saturday listed a charge of reckless foreign interference against Csergo, with the offence occurring between February 2021 and April 2023 in the Australian state of New South Wales and Shanghai. Csergo had recently returned from China and was arrested on Friday at a residence in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi, according to neighbours. The court document also named "Ken" and "Evelyn" as engaging with Csergo. The AFP will allege "Ken" and "Evelyn" work for a foreign intelligence service and are undertaking intelligence collection activities, the statement said.

☆ Australia signs land deal for proposed battery material plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The proposed facility in Western Australia, the country's largest mining state, would be Australia's first to produce nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor cathode active material, used to make components for the lithium-ion batteries common in electric vehicles. IGO acting CEO Matt Dusci said the land deal was a "critical step" to better integrate into the battery supply chain. "We believe the area where Australia can be most competitive is in mid-stream battery chemical processing," Dusci said in a statement. A final investment decision for the project is subject to a feasibility study, due in mid-2024, and finding a project partner with battery chemical processing experience. Western Australia, which holds a majority of the country's critical mineral reserves, is at the forefront of the push to build processing capacity.

SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) - An Australian man who had recently returned from China was arrested in Sydney on Friday and charged with a foreign interference offence, police, court officials and neighbours of the man said. The man, who the police statement did not name, operates a business overseas and had recently returned to Australia. Csergo was arrested at a residential address in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi, a woman who lived at the same address told Reuters. In the statement, police allege the arrested man was contacted while overseas by an individual claiming to be from a think-tank. Csergo is the second person charged with an offence since Australia introduced foreign interference laws in 2018.

A ban on protests in the area is in place from Thursday evening until Saturday morning local time. Loic Venance/AFP/Getty ImagesViolence also broke out at Paris’ Place de la Bastille as riot police clashed with angry protestors. Up to 600,000 people were expected to take to the streets across France for the latest protests. Protesters gain entry inside the LVMH headquarters during a demonstration against pension reform in central Paris. Femimist activists dressed as Rosie the Riveter icon perform during a demonstration in Paris on April 13, 2023.

☆ Photos show crowds storming the headquarters of the world's richest man as they protest France's proposed retirement age raise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Protestors opposing France's plans to raise the retirement age stormed LVMH headquarters. Top executives, including LVMH CEO and world's richest man Bernard Arnault, have offices in the building. Striking railway workers entered LVMH's headquarters to protest the French government's proposal to raise France's retirement age. Lewis Joly/AP PhotoFrench President Emmanuel Macron proposed raising France's retirement age to 64 by 2030, saying that France's pension system needs the reform to be able to support future generations of retirees. Lewis Joly/AP PhotoArnault is currently the richest person in the world, and recently saw his net worth cross over $200 billion.

ASIC on Thursday cancelled the Australian financial services licence of Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives (Binance), in response to a request from the company. “Our targeted review of these matters is ongoing, including focus on the extent of consumer harms.”The financial services licence authorised Binance to issue derivatives and foreign exchange contracts. Noting many cryptocurrency products and services are not regulated by ASIC, Longo said the regulator supported a "regulatory framework" for the asset class. Binance said in a statement it had decided to pursue a "more focused approach" in Australia after "recent engagement with ASIC". The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is battling regulatory suits and probes around the world.

Search resuls for: "Lewis J"

25 mentions found