Financial Professional Standards

A first of its kind, The H₂ Handbook provides a comprehensive summary of the regulatory, commercial, and policy issues that hydrogen may face on its path to becoming a global commodity and a significant part of the energy mix. The handbook covers hydrogen-related issues in a number of jurisdictions across the globe, including Australia, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Check back regularly as new region handbooks are published.  

On 22 December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments (the final rule) to Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the Advisers Act) to modernize the regulation of investment adviser advertising and solicitation practices.

On 13 January 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued two rulings on the challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) (OSHA Ruling) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Interim Final Rule with Comment (CMS IFR) (CMS Ruling) (discussed here).

The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft legislation and Explanatory Materials for an anticipated suite of reforms to unfair contract terms (UCT) laws found in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act). Treasury is now considering feedback on the exposure draft with a view to the Government introducing a bill to effect wide-ranging changes to the UCT regime.