Keeping in touch with business regulatory trends

08 July 2016

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims (left) with BRI Ferrier’s James Koutsoukos.

BRI Ferrier Melbourne Principal, James Koutsoukos, has been up close and personal in recent times with key Australian business regulators.

In late April, James attended an event at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in Melbourne, where he met with Rod Sims, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Mr Sims delivered a presentation on the role the Commission plays in the Australian business landscape. He also discussed the current proposals to amend sections of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

James enjoyed the case studies, which emphasised the ACCC’s role in terms of intervening in circumstances where market power is misused. In this way, the ACCC helps to create a more competitive and efficient business landscape for both market players and consumers.

On Wednesday 29 June, James attended another ACCI event, ‘Cocktails with Professor Ian Harper and the Hon Lindsay Tanner’.

Professor Harper is the former Chair of the Australian Government’s Competition Policy Review, while Mr Tanner is a former Federal Minister for Finance and Regulation. At the event, they provided insights into the ACCI’s ‘Top 10 in 10’ – ten steps to take Australia back, within the next ten years, into the world’s top ten most competitive economies.

Their interesting commentary covered both economic and political viewpoints, and Professor Harper’s perspective was particularly interesting given his recent appointment to the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia.