• United States | Going backwards on diversity: Fortune has released its annual Fortune 500 list which reveals among other things a 25% drop (since 2017) in the number of women CEOs, and a 50% drop in the number of African American CEOs (since 2012).
• In Brief | Nine Australians in the list of the 100 most influential people in gender policy globally: Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Libby Lyons, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services Kelly O'Dwyer and former Prime Minister and Chair of the Institute for Women's leadership Julia Gillard are among those to have been included in the list of 100 most influential people in gender policy released by apolitical this week.
• In Brief | The WSJ writes that Stacey Cunningham will be the New York Stock Exchange's CEO and the board's 67th president and the first female leader in the NYSE's 226 year history.

• United Kingdom | Was the additional compensation awarded to an executive who stepped in to act as interim CEO excessive? 37.62% of shareholders voted against the remuneration report at Bovis Homes Group plc at the 23 May 2018 AGM despite the company's engagement efforts.

• The board and the CFO of Godfreys Group Ltd have resigned en masse and with immediate effect following the group's takeover by Arcade Finance Pty Ltd (the family company of Godfreys co-founder John Johnston).
• In Brief | Companies with dual class structures to continue to be included in MSCI indexes: MSCI proposes to continue to include securities with differential voting rights in equity indexes but with adjusted weights that reflect both free float and company-level listed voting power.

• CPA AGM | According to media reports, CPA Australia will move forward with all four of its board resolutions after they received sufficient backing in proxies (between 78 to 82% support) prior to the AGM. 

• Time for banks to require corporate borrowers to disclose climate risk? Activist investor, TCI Fund Management has reportedly called on the BoE to introduce rules on how banks deal with the risks of climate change.

• United States | The CFTC has issued guidance to exchanges and clearinghouses on listing cryptocurrency products.
• In Brief | The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it has approved the Australian Securities Exchange Limited’s (ASX 24) application to permit direct access for US customers to trade on its platform. Under the order, ASX 24 is registered with the CFTC and allowed to permit members and other participants in the US to trade by direct access on the exchange without having to trade through an intermediary.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

• Second and final phase of industry funding model ASIC fees-for-services: Legislation introduced 24 May 2018.
• The AAT has affirmed ASIC's decision to disqualify the director of 18 failed companies until 18 February 2019.
• In Brief | Echoing many of the same themes as have featured in recent speeches by ASIC Chair James Shipton, ASIC Commissioner John Price has called on industry to embed 'a strong ethical perspective into your DNA' to rebuild trust and to seek to cooperate with the regulator. He also reiterated ASIC's focus on aligning conduct in a market-based system with investor and consumer trust and confidence flagging that there would be particular focus on gatekeeper confidence, professionalism, independence and ethical standards.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

• Additional Deputy Chair for APRA? New Bill proposed to enable the appointment of up to two Deputy Chairs.
• APRA is undertaking a comprehensive post-implementation review of the superannuation prudential framework to ensure it is meeting its objectives and remains fit for purpose. The review will be completed in three stages, and submissions will close 26 September 2018.

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

• In Brief | AUSTRAC is consulting on the proposed charging model for determining component amounts of the 2018-2019 industry contribution levy. Consultation closes 22 June 2018.

Other Developments

• United Kingdom | Progress update on the 'root and branch' review of the Financial Reporting Council: Sir John Kingman has reportedly announced the members of the panel which will assist him in undertaking the review. 

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Financial Services Royal Commission)

• Top Story | Round 3 Hearings Week 1: The focus of the first week of hearings was on the provision of credit to SMEs with particular focus on the conduct of financial services entities in connection with applications for business loans and the approach of the entities to hardship.
• The Code of Banking Practice: The revised code is a 'step in the right direction' according to Philip Khoury.

Banking

• Open Banking update | Treasurer Scott Morrison has announced Andrew Stevens will serve as the interim Chair of the Data Standards Body for the Consumer Data Right.
• In Brief | Westpac BBSW case: Justice Beach of the Federal Court found that Westpac engaged in unconscionable conduct under s12CC of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) by its involvement in setting the bank bill swap reference rate (BBSW) on four occasions. A further hearing on penalty and relief will be held on a date to be determined. Separately, ASIC and the RBA have welcomed the new BBSW calculation methodology which commenced 21 May.

Superannuation

• Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty Bill: A new Bill proposes to give employers a 12 month amnesty to pay any unpaid superannuation to workers or risk new penalties, among other measures.

Insurance

• In Brief | APRA and ASIC have jointly released new data on life insurance claims and claims related disputes for the period 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017. According to the data, 90% of claims that go to decision are paid in the first instance. APRA states that overall the results are consistent both with previous data released in November 2017 and with the results of ASIC's report 498 Life Insurance claims: An industry review 2016.
• In Brief | APRA has released life insurance statistics for March 2018; Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics for March 2018; and statistics for general insurance institution-level performance for March 2018.

Other Developments

• United States | Partial roll-back of Dodd-Frank legislation (at least for smaller lenders): A Bill to roll back some aspects of the financial reforms enacted in the aftermath of the financial crisis has passed both houses and pending Presidential approval, will become law.
• United Kingdom | The Crown Court has dismissed SFO fraud allegations against Barclays concerning 2008 capital raisings but Barclays has cautioned the market that the SFO is likely to reinstate the charges.
• In Brief | Fortune reports that Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will reportedly switch on blockchain payments in 2020. The service is expected to be capable of handling 10 million transactions per second. By contrast, Bitcoin can process seven transactions per second at latencies exceeding 10 minutes.

• United Kingdom: The Labour Party has commissioned a review of the auditing and accounting regulatory framework. Proposals for reform are due to be delivered at the Labour Party conference in September.
• In Brief | No case to break up audit firms as is being considered in the UK? Australian audit firms have reportedly said competition remains strong and despite downward pressure on the price of audits there has been no impact on audit quality or independence. Consequently, they are reportedly of the view that there is no case to break up the firms as is being considered in the UK.

• Top Story | New decision fuels risk of pre-action discovery against companies facing misconduct allegations.
• United States | The beginning of the end for employee class actions? In a 5:4 ruling, the US Supreme Court has found that employers can include 'forced arbitration clauses' in their employment contracts.
• In Brief | National Scams Awareness Week (21-25 May): ASIC has warned investors to be on high alert to investment scams. The ACCC's Targeting Scams Report show that investment scams have replaced romance and dating scams as the most lucrative method of fraud.
• In Brief | The US Securities and Exchange Commission launched a fake, fully interactive website promoting a fictitious initial coin offering (Howeycoins) as an 'educational tool to alert investors to possible fraud' involving digital assets like crypto-currencies and coin offerings. Fortune writes that securities regulators across the US and Canada have recently commenced dozens of investigations into potentially fraudulent cryptocurrency investment products.
• In Brief | The EU General Data Protection Regulation came into effect on May 25, 2018. OAIC has released a resource to assist Australian businesses to understand the new requirements and how they can comply with Australian and EU privacy laws.

• United States | Time to rethink successor criminal liability? The case for strengthening incentives for companies to self-report and reform, rather than conceal misconduct. 

• A step closer to constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Islander people: The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples has requested submissions.
• In Brief | Consultation on measure to address the 'black economy': Treasury has released a consultation paper inviting feedback on the measure announced in the Federal Budget 2018-2019, to introduce an economy wide cash payment limit of $10,000. Consultation closes on 24 June 2018.