Deal Talk EP4: The Star Decision - Lessons for Directors (Part 2)

HSF Kramer Chair and Senior Partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage and Head Office Advisory Partner Carolyn Pugsley, unpack the Federal Court's landmark decision and draw out practical takeaways for NEDs in this two-part podcast series. In this episode, they discuss the facts and basis of ASIC's allegations, as well as the key outcomes and contributing management and board dynamics (drawing contrasts to other seminal directors' duties cases such as the Centro decision). In episode two, the discussion turns to the broader governance lessons from the Star decision — including Justice Lee's pointed observations on AI in the boardroom, the growing impracticality of modern board papers, and the role of general counsel and company secretaries. This is a must-listen for NEDS navigating the evolving duties landscape in Australia.

In this follow-up episode to Part 1: The Star Decision - Lessons for Directors, HSF Kramer Chair and Senior Partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage and Head Office Advisory Partner Carolyn Pugsley, turn to the broader governance lessons from the Star decision — including Justice Lee's pointed observations on AI in the boardroom, the growing impracticality of modern board papers, and the role of general counsel and company secretaries. A must-listen for boards and governance professionals navigating the evolving duties landscape in Australia.

In Episode 2 of Deal Talk, partners Kam Jamshidi and Nicole Pedler explore what the 2025 NBIO market reveals for bidders and targets in Australian public M&A. HSF Kramer has deeply analysed non binding indicative offers in public deals to extract the key lessons for bidders and targets when formulating their M&A strategy. Drawing on this proprietary data, the episode examines when NBIOs most commonly emerge and what that means for listed companies facing major announcements, leadership changes and other market moving events. Kam and Nicole work through the 2025 NBIO landscape, covering: • success rates • disclosure practices and timing • engagement periods • private equity dynamics • pre bid stakes • recent Takeovers Panel developments A practical discussion for boards, management teams and advisers preparing for, advising on or responding to a potential public M&A approach.

Investigate 360: EP15 Export Controls and Sanctions in Defence: Practical Insights Across Australia and the US by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Podcasts

In the latest episode of On Just Terms, HSF Kramer partners Jason Betts and Rebecca Maslen-Stannage are joined by The Honourable Michelle Rowland MP, Attorney-General of Australia, for a wide-ranging discussion on the government's legal priorities. The Attorney-General shares insights on Privacy Act reform, the government's position on copyright and AI and why there is no text and data mining exception, scams and consumer protection, class actions and access to justice, and the critical importance of effective enforcement capability. This is a substantive discussion on the role of law in serving the public interest, and what lies ahead on Australia's legal agenda.

2026 Federal Budget - CGT Discount Replaced, Negative Gearing Curtailed, and Discretionary Trusts Hit with Minimum Tax Late on Budget night Toby Eggleston, Ryan Leslie and Nick Heggart discuss Treasurer Chalmers’ budget, focused on reshaping personal tax, especially capital gains and discretionary trusts, under “intergenerational equity.” Corporate measures are smaller, including re-announced non-resident CGT changes with intended retrospectivity to 2006 and limited transitional relief for renewables to 30 June 2030, expanded VCLP/ESVCLP investment caps, and R&D offset tweaks forecast to reduce tax by $1.5b. Small business changes include making the instant asset write-off permanent, a refundable loss offset for startups from 1 July 2028, and a permanent loss carry-back for companies under $1b turnover. Major personal reforms include phasing out the 50% CGT discount from 1 July 2027 (replaced by cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum CGT tax), taxing pre-CGT assets, limiting negative gearing for post-budget residential purchases (except new builds), and imposing a 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028 with complex impacts, especially for “bucket companies,” plus proposed restructuring rollovers amid stamp duty issues. 00:10 Budget Night Kick-off 00:41 Corporate Tax Overview 01:53 Non-Resident CGT Reboot 03:14 Venture Capital and R&D 05:16 Small Business Reliefs 06:20 Loss Carry-back Returns 08:44 Big Shift to Personal Tax 08:47 CGT Discount Ends 10:52 Tech and Startup Fallout 15:01 Negative Gearing Overhaul 16:51 Discretionary Trusts Seismic 21:37 Late Night Wrap Up

This podcast focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and, in particular, M&A activity in the sector and the recent surge in licensing deals involving Chinese biotechs. There are a lot of interesting topics related to the pharmaceutical sector which we could discuss but today we will be covering the following: 1) First, we will begin with an overview of M&A deal activity in the sector; 2) we will then discuss the key legal trends being seen by our deal teams, 3) finally, we will conclude with a discussion on a hot topic in the industry right now, the rise of China's biotechs on the global stage. Speakers: Csilla Cao, Siqi Geng 这一期我们会重点讨论制药行业，特别是制药行业并购活动的情况，以及这段时间明显升温的中国生物科技公司对外授权交易。制药行业其实有很多值得讨论的话题，我们这期节目将主要聚焦三个方面：1) 首先，我们会对制药行业的并购交易情况做一个整体介绍；2)再讨论我们交易团队在实际交易中观察到的一些关键法律趋势；3) 最后，我们将重点谈一谈目前行业的一个热门话题，中国生物科技公司在全球舞台的崛起。 Speakers: 曹文旖，耿思琪

It has been a busy time for the Prudential Regulation Authority ("PRA") Enforcement team. In two firsts for the PRA, its decision against U K Insurance Ltd saw the first reported use of the Early Account Scheme leading to a settlement discount of 50%, and the decision against Bank of London Group Limited and Oplyse Holdings Limited involved the first breach of Fundamental Rule 1 by a firm. In this episode of the FSR Brief, Jon Ford, Michael Tan and Emma Bridgeman discuss these recent cases by the PRA and what they signal to firms about the PRA's approach when it comes to early settlement and integrity findings. For more on the Early Account Scheme, read our blog post on the UK Insurance Limited case: https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/fsrandcorpcrime/2026-posts/weighing-up-the-pras-early-account-scheme-insights-from-the-first-case-concluded-using-the-process

This is the second episode of "Cross-examining AI", HSF Kramer's podcast series on disputes and AI where we unpack the key developments in AI that are shaping litigation. In this episode we give an update on privilege and AI in the US, find out why not to use ChatGPT to develop a corporate strategy, and finally discuss how AI is being used in the world of international arbitration. This episode is hosted by Camilla Macpherson, a knowledge lawyer in our disputes team. Camilla is joined by Alan R. Friedman, a counsel in our New York disputes team, Nick Tonckens, an associate in our New York disputes team and Liz Kantor, a knowledge counsel in our global arbitration team. Below you can find links to our blog posts on the developments and cases covered in this podcast. • Civil Justice Council publishes consultation on use of AI for preparing court documents https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/litigation/2026-02/civil-justice-council-publishes-consultation-on-use-of-ai-for-preparing-court-documents • New York court finds client chats with generative AI tool Claude are not privileged https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/litigation/2026-02/new-york-court-finds-client-chats-with-generative-ai-tool-claude-are-not-privileged • US courts find privilege applies to use of public AI tools by self-represented litigants https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/litigation/2026-04/us-courts-find-privilege-applies-to-use-of-public-ai-tools-by-self-represented-litigants • Delaware Court of Chancery reinstates seller CEO and extends earnout payment window, as buyer’s ChatGPT strategy fails https://www.hsfkramer.com/insights/2026-04/delaware-court-of-chancery-reinstates-seller-ceo-and-extends-earnout-payment-window-as-buyers-chatgpt-strategy-fails • AI-volution in Arbitration: the new Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Guidelines https://www.hsfkramer.com/notes/arbitration/2025-03/ai-volution-in-arbitration-the-new-chartered-institute-of-arbitrators-guidelines

In this episode of On Just Terms, Jason Betts and Melissa Gladstone continue their conversation with Stuart Price, CEO of CASL, focusing on the practical realities of litigation funding. The discussion examines how funders balance commercial returns with fairness to group members, manage competing stakeholder interests, and respond to evolving market dynamics, including contingency fees, legal finance models and emerging technologies shaping the future of complex litigation.