Share price pain sought for wayward companies, Cadbury banned from zoos, and more top news
The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.
Fines should be large enough to lower the share price of big companies that break the law, according to ACCC chairman Rod Sims, after lawmakers last year voted to increase penalties. In a speech, he said previous penalties had amounted to loose change and that courts could now impose fines of more than $100M. “We need penalties that mean that when the penalty is announced, the share price takes a dip,” he said.
Mondelez-owned Cadbury and Natural Confectionery Company products were banned from zoos in Victoria, for failing to declare where the palm oil they use comes from. Palm oil is found in many products, but under current rules is can be listed as vegetable oil. The production of palm oil has destroyed the habitats of several rare and endangered animals. Zoos Victoria removed producer Nestle from its shelves over similar concerns last year
Don’t hold your breath for a big pay rise, after the International Monetary Fund projected that incomes adjusted for inflation would average just 0.3% through to 2024, which is well below the average of 1.8% annual growth experienced since the 1960s. This comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe said that low wages were a bigger economic risk than falling house prices.
A regulator tasked with assessing the quality of audits is still paid by accounting giant PwC, according to the Australian Financial Review (paywall), which said Bill Edge, a former PwC senior partner, was confident it wouldn’t have an effect on his role as chairman of the Financial Reporting Council. The FRC is the government's independent adviser on audit quality, and Edge is paid by PwC as part of its partner retirement plan.
You no longer need to live in capital city to get the start-up experience, with co-working spaces increasingly offering online memberships. Sydney space Fishburners has become the latest to connect regional businesses with other founders online, as well as providing the chance to occasionally work out of Sydney, Brisbane or Shanghai offices. Regional business owners are finding it helps them secure meetings with potential clients.
Idea of the Day: Just because you’re not saving lives, doesn’t mean the work you’re doing isn’t meaningful, says Hays CEO Alistair Cox.
“Start to see the real, tangible value you and your skills bring. This might not be immediately obvious at first glance, but trust me, the impact you’re having is real. ”
What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Senior Accountant at Australian Psychological Society (APS)
5 年@ Probably
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5 年Whilst profit (demand from shareholders for increasing returns) is King then it seems to me that the end will always justify the means. Ethics seems to be absent in many big organisations and shareholder service has replaced customer service as the culture. If the motivator is money then change in behaviour will only occur through a hit to the hip pocket - heavy fines, not a fixed $ amount which may be a drop in the ocean for some, but a fixed percentage of the average gross profit over a period of years. This type of repercussion for poor behaviour might make Boards and CEOs take more notice of the ethical culture of their organisation. Some shareholders may leave due to unethical behaviour of the organisation but many won’t, either through being unaware of the behaviour or through their own focus on money, so we need a hard hitting regulatory framework to keep the focus on community expectations - behaviour that will pass the pub test!
Semi-Retired
5 年Look out ABC staffers and managers, Ida Buttrose will kick your slack ass into gear for ALL Australians not just the Fringe Lefties.
CCEO, MBA, Metaphysicist, coach
5 年Nice reminder that what we spend our days doing is meaningful :)
Waste Education Officer at Knox City Council
5 年I wish other companies would follow the example of Zoos Victoria by holding other companies accountable for their lack of ethical practices.