Regulation

Few people are better placed to understand the changes taking place in health insurance than HBF managing director Rob Bransby.

Mutual health funds including Western Australia's market leader, HBF, have launched their combined push to take on the private players, which now dominate the sector following the listing of Medibank Private, as well as the growing threat from online aggregators.

Australia's vast superannuation pool could be at greater risk if the financial watchdog's access to stored telecommunications data is curtailed, ASIC says.

Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore project has been issued two prohibition notices over safety concerns.

The consumer watchdog is probing Woodside Petroleum's $US2.75 billion purchase of oil and gas assets from US energy company Apache, over concerns the deal could affect the supply of wholesale gas in the Western Australian market and lead to higher gas prices.

The corporate watchdog has cancelled the registrations of more than 400 self managed super fund auditors who failed to pass a competency test.

Supermarket giant Coles has apologised and offered refunds to suppliers after admitting it crossed the line with many of them.

Could health insurance follow the superannuation sector, where industry funds have collectively taken on private retail players? WA's biggest fund, HBF, is leading a national alliance of not-for-profit health insurers, which are now a minority following the recent privatisation of Medibank Private.

Australian banks are not "unquestionably strong" and need to hold more capital as a safety net against future external shocks, David Murray says.

Burswood-based Programmed Maintenance Services has won a $270 million contract to maintain assets at the University of Wollongong's Student Accommodation project over a 39-year term.

Western Australian Governor Kerry Sanderson has appointed professor Stephen King as alternate chairman of the governing body of the Economic Regulation Authority on a part-time basis.

Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has called on business leaders to speak up against government regulations she says are making it harder for Australia to compete.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart says rules and regulations are killing jobs.

Western Australia's unfair and inefficient taxi industry has unnecessarily cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a leading economist commissioned by motorist advocacy group R

Sandfire Resources has filed proceedings in the Federal Court against the Centre for Australian Ethical Research over media releases published on its website last month, which Sandfire argues contained “misleading and deceptive” information.

The Franchising Council of Australia and the Australian National Retailers' Association have welcomed the release of the updated Franchising Code of Conduct by the federal government.

Three of billionaire Gina Rinehart's companies will go to trial next March over the late filing of financial accounts with the corporate regulator.

The consumer watchdog is "painstakingly" sifting through data to ensure households are paying less for their electricity after the repeal of the carbon tax.

Rules are costing Western Australians $37 billion every year and an average of eight hours a week complying with self-imposed red tape, a new Deloitte report has found.

Supermarket giant Coles set aside one day a year called ‘‘profit day'' to extract improper payments from its suppliers, the competition regulator alleges.

Small-to medium-sized businesses can expect savings on their energy bills of between five and 10 per cent following the axing of the carbon tax, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says.

Western Australian brides and grooms have been left out of pocket to the tune of $180,000 after a company that offered weddings in Bali became insolvent.

The former managing director of China's Hanlong Mining has been extradited to Australia for what could be the nation's biggest insider trading case.

The huge rise in employment in August and the spike in the jobless rate a month earlier didn't actually happen - the Australian Bureau of Statistics intends to revise most of it away.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to release $2.2 million into the hands of about 45,000 of its customers who had money left on expired CBA travel money cards.

Interest rates don't appear to be moving any time soon, with recent falls in the Australian dollar still failing to impress the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Perth's established suburbs accounted for just 28 per cent of all urban land development in 2012, well below the long-term 'infill' target of 47 per cent, prompting calls for regulatory reform from the Property Council of Australia.

Former Aperio Resources director Andy Lim has been sentenced to 12 months jail in the Perth District Court on a fraud charge brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

New regulations look set to be introduced to cool Australia's booming housing market, but the Reserve Bank of Australia is not yet ready to reveal what they will be.

Western Australia's corruption watchdog has recorded an increase in allegations it receives about misconduct by public officers, plus a 100 per cent conviction rate, its annual report shows.

Petrol retailers have rejected any suggestion a third-party website listing petrol pump prices every 15 minutes enabled them to engage in price-fixing.

Tough new traffic penalties are about to come into force in Western Australia, with some fines skyrocketing more than five-fold.