Law360, London: Australia's top court sided with Pepsi in a long-running tax dispute on 13 August 2025, holding that the beverage giant's soft drink manufacturing agreement with an Australian company did not generate income that would warrant royalty withholding taxes.

This Practice Note is part of a multi-jurisdictional guide addressing essential aspects of forming specific business entities in global jurisdictions. Leading law firms in the Multilaw global law firm network answer key questions on this topic. This guide discusses key considerations when forming a private trading trust in Australia. Current as of 13 January 2023. Author: Paul Kirton, Macpherson Kelley, a Multilaw member firm Common entities 1. What form of entity is the subject of this questionnaire? What other forms of entities are commonly used in this jurisdiction and are the subject of another questionnaire response? The subject of this response is the private trading trust (trading trust). The privately owned company is the subject of a separate response. 2. Identify other types of entities in your jurisdiction that exist but will not be the subject of a questionnaire response at this time • Public company • Registered branch office • Partnership/limited partnership • Incorporated association General principles 3. What is the main source of law authorising this form of entity? Most states

This Practice Note is part of a multi-jurisdictional guide addressing essential aspects of forming specific business entities in global jurisdictions. Leading law firms in the Multilaw global law firm network answer key questions on this topic. This guide discusses key considerations when forming a privately-owned company in Australia. Current as of 13 January 2023. Author: Paul Kirton, Macpherson Kelley, a Multilaw member firm. Common entities 1. What form of entity is the subject of this questionnaire? What other forms of entities are commonly used in this jurisdiction and are the subject of another questionnaire response? The subject of this response is the privately owned company (Pty Ltd Company). The trading trust is the subject of a separate response. 2. Identify other types of entities in your jurisdiction that exist but will not be the subject of a questionnaire response at this time • Public company • Partnership/limited partnership • Incorporated association • Foreign entities can also trade directly in Australia through a branch office provided it is registered. Given the regulatory and compliance burden, and liability

Law360: An Australian judge refused to lift an order barring a Kraft Heinz Company subsidiary from proceeding with a New York arbitration stemming from an Australian dairy company's alleged misuse of Kraft's peanut butter jar design, saying on 20 April 2018 that the parallel proceedings could lead to inconsistent findings.

Loan market and developments Please provide a brief overview of the current state of the loan markets in your jurisdiction and any significant recent market developments. Lending to Australian corporates continues to increase, with lending rates stabilising and most economists forecasting that the rate-cutting cycle will commence in 2025. Syndicated loans to Australian businesses grew significantly in 2024 compared with the previous year as corporates sought to refinance debt at better terms or longer tenors. Domestic debt capital markets issuance was particularly busy, reaching the highest levels of activity seen in this tightening cycle. Additionally, an expanding universe of active bank and non-bank lenders has acted as a driver for greater liquidity in the market, offering diversified sources of debt-financing for borrowers to optimise loan durations. Project finance continues to be active, with renewables projects continuing to drive activity. With the investment required in energy transition and grid upgrades, this will likely continue onwards towards 2030 and 2050. The share of private credit as a proportion of total business debt continues to grow rapidly.

Arbitration analysis: The High Court of Australia held that a foreign state’s ratification of the New York Convention does not, without more, constitute a clear and unmistakable waiver of jurisdictional immunity in proceedings to recognise and enforce an arbitral award. Reaffirming the strict approach to waiver adopted in Kingdom of Spain v Infrastructure Services Luxembourg Sàrl, the court emphasised the continuing primacy of sovereign immunity absent express consent. The decision narrows the circumstances in which award creditors may enforce awards against states in Australia and highlights the need to identify an independent basis for overcoming immunity. Practitioners should carefully assess immunity issues before commencing enforcement proceedings against sovereign respondents.

HM Treasury has announced that Australia’s largest pension fund,  AustralianSuper,  plans to invest a further £8bn into high-growth sectors in the UK such as energy transition and digital infrastructure. This new investment will take its total investment in the country to over £18bn by 2030. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has stated that ‘this major investment from AustralianSuper will promote growth and strengthen the UK’s position as a leading financial centre, creating wealth and helping to fund public services’.

1. What is the applicable legislation? The main applicable legislation governing foreign investments into Austria includes: • Investment Control Act (ICA), and • Regulation (EU) 2019/452 (EU-FDI Screening Regulation), establishing an EU-wide cooperation mechanism between the European Commission (Commission) and EU Member States on so-called ‘FDI screenings’ In addition, there are several bilateral investment treaties (BITs) which might apply, depending on the jurisdiction the relevant investor is associated with, and which Austria has entered into for the mutual protection of investments. Austria is currently a party to BITs with several countries. For completeness, there are certain Austrian regulations which apply to all investments, and not only foreign direct investments, but which can sometimes particularly impact foreign investments. A non-exhaustive list includes the following: • Austria’s competition law, including the Austrian Antitrust Act 2005 and applicable EU competition law • depending on the sector in which the target is active ◦ the Telecommunications Act 2021, which requires regulatory approval for significant changes in the ownership structure of companies to which frequency usage rights have been allocated ◦ the Austrian Banking

This table summarises all completed investigations by Austria’s competition authority (the Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde—BWB) into alleged cartels, anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant positions (Articles 101/102 TFEU and national equivalents) since 2017. Note—only decisions that have been made public are included in this table. 2026 Investigations under Article 101 TFEU/Section 1 of the Austrian Cartel Act of 2005 Case name, companies under investigation and industry Issues Developments Waste management• iF KAB• iF Killer Restrictive agreements—price fixing, allocating customers, and information exchange • Infringement decision announced—10/06/2026; fines totalling €750,000 imposed• Application to the Cartel Court submitted—26/11/2025 Databases for company information.• Creditreform Restrictive agreements—price fixing and allocating customers • Application to the Cartel Court submitted—29/05/2026 Construction• Bauunternehmung Marko Restrictive agreements—price fixing, allocating customers and information exchange • Infringement decision announced—27/03/2026; fines totalling €103,000 imposed Work and protective clothing• Pfanner Schutzbekleidung, Protos GmbH and their parent company Anton Pfanner Holding AG GmbH Restrictive agreements—RPM • Infringement decision announced—04/03/2026; fines totalling €400,000 imposed Investigations under Article 102 TFEU/Section 5 of the Austrian Cartel Act of 2005 There are currently no ongoing investigations under Article 102 TFEU/Section 5

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in Austria and throughout the world are met, see further: Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Austrian merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Austria? Starting with a slightly older (but still very relevant) merger control amendment, the 2017 amendment to the Cartel Act 2005 (Cartel Act) and the Competition Act 2002 introduced a transaction value threshold to Austrian merger control. According to the Cartel Act, s 9(4), concentrations also have to be notified if: • the combined worldwide turnover of the undertakings concerned exceeds €300m • the combined Austrian turnover exceeds €15m • the value of the consideration (transaction value) exceeds €200m, and • the target undertaking is active in Austria to a significant extent active This new threshold was inspired by a similar piece of legislation in Germany. It aims to cover in particular mergers in the digital economy involving successful start-ups that

CASE HUB ARCHIVED–this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the penalty notice of 20 December 2018; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline, commentary and related cases. Case facts Outline UK merger investigation into the completed acquisition by European Metal Recycling Limited of Metal & Waste Recycling Limited. The transaction involves horizontal overlaps in markets for metal recycling. Latest developments On 20 December 2018, the CMA issued a penalty notice to Ausurus and EMR for failure to comply with the initial enforcement order (IEO) imposed by the CMA. A total fine of £300,000 was imposed, for two infringements. The CMA found that Ausurus and EMR failed to comply with the IEO through two breaches, namely: • directing the customers of CuFe to make payment into bank accounts of Ausurus and making payments to suppliers of scrap to CuFe from bank accounts of Ausurus, in both cases without seeking the consent of the CMA; this amounted to an unauthorised integration of, and a failure to maintain separation of, Ausurus and

A document in a matter of succession that has been formally drawn up or registered as an authentic instrument in a Member State and the authenticity of which relates to its signature and content; and has been established by a public authority or other authority empowered for that purpose by the Member State. For example, this could include a document drawn up by a notary that confirms who is entitled to an estate and who is entitled to administer it.