Private Credit 2025

AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alastair Gourlay, Lewis Grimm, Joanne Dwyer and Kathryn Sutherland-Smith, Jones Day

• the value of the principal amounts outstand - ing on loans or other financing that arose during the most recent financial year, where the funding or origination of the loan or other financing resulted from activities carried out by the corporation (directly or indirectly), exceeds AUD50 million (“Principal Amounts Threshold”). AUSTRAC Enrolment, Compliance and Reporting Domestic private credit providers and private credit providers that operate through a per - manent establishment in Australia are “report - ing entities” under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act). Under the AML/CTF Act, entities are “reporting entities” if they engage in “desig - nated services”, including making a loan in the course of carrying on a loans business. Obligations for reporting entities include: • enrollment with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC); • adopting a compliant AML/CTF financing programme; • undertaking customer due diligence on their borrowers; and • providing prescribed reporting to AUSTRAC. 2.5 Club Lending and Antitrust Australian competition laws apply generally (ie, they are not industry-specific). The main statute dealing with competition laws in Australia is the Federal Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). The CCA is aimed at preserving and promoting competition in the marketplace by prohibiting or regulating anti-competitive agreements and conduct including the following.

• Anti-competitive mergers any acquisition of shares or assets likely to substantially lessen competition in a market in Australia (noting that a mandatory filing regime will apply to acquisitions from 1 January 2026). • Cartels competitors making or implementing any arrangement to fix prices, restrict supply, share markets, or rig bids. There are limited exceptions for cartel conduct, most impor - tantly, the joint venture exception (but this is tightly defined) and may be relevant to club lending but these need to be set up carefully to take advantage of the exception. • Resale price maintenance suppliers seeking to ensure that re-sellers maintain specified minimum prices when advertising or selling. • Specific anti-competitive vertical arrange - ments vertical arrangements which have the purpose or likely effect of substantially less - ening competition in a market in Australia. • Market power corporations that have sub - stantial market power engaging in conduct that has the purpose, effect, or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in a relevant market. • Anti-competitive arrangements any arrange - ment, whether between competitors or not, which has the purpose or likely effect of sub - stantially lessening competition in a market in Australia. The financial services sector is a focus of the ACCC generally. In addition, joint financing arrangements may be the subject of ACCC investigation as a cartel and/or anti-competitive agreement. Such investigation may be run as a criminal and civil action.

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