☕️ Bourse bruising

Good morning.

Already reeling from failed upgrades and market outages, the ASX is now facing Federal Court claims that its boss Helen Lofthouse bullied and marginalised a senior executive.

Former head of trading technology Jamie Halstead alleges Lofthouse belittled him, ignored his concerns that his duties didn’t match his contract, and withheld bonuses and promotions while he was warning the exchange it was breaching its obligations to run the market properly.

Halstead says his warnings stretched from the failed blockchain CHESS project and its $250m write-off, to the 2020 trading outage that forced ASIC to step in, to ongoing issues with the ASX24 platform. He claims management repeatedly dismissed his concerns about resourcing, testing and compliance, then advertised his role before cutting him in this year’s 100-person restructure.

The bourse has yet to file its defence but says the case is without merit and will be vigorously contested.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in regenerative medicine company Avita Medical jumped 10% on Monday after its RECELL GO skin therapy received CE mark approval under the European Union’s Medical Device Regulation. The green light paves the way for commercialisation across covered European markets.

The quick sync

• Salesforce’s top AI researcher dismisses hype around GPT-5, arguing the real frontier is robotics, not bigger chatbots. (Capital Brief)

• Google has hired Labor-aligned lobbying firm Hawker Britton as it braces for Australian tech reforms that could set a global precedent. (Capital Brief)

• Screen scraping remains fundamentally unsafe, yet the government has missed its own deadline to ban it and protect consumers, writes Grant Augustin. (Capital Brief)

• A $240m slap from ASIC hasn’t convinced regulators ANZ has cleaned up its “grubby” act. (Capital Brief)

• StrongRoom AI director Divesh Sanghvi pushes back in court as EVP fights to claw back $7.5m from the collapsed startup’s disputed deal. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• StrongRoom AI director Divesh Sanghvi rejects EVP’s $7.5m clawback bid, citing valid contracts and investor inaction. (Capital Brief)

• ANZUK Education, $500m teacher recruiter founded by Daniel Mundy, gears up for sale after NZ expansion. (The Australian)

• Musk buys USD 1b in Tesla shares, stock jumps 6% amid sales slump and political backlash. (Capital Brief)

• CVC acquires 45% of Australian Venue Co for $945m, spotlighting Endeavour pubs’ future. (The Australian)

• Lynn Forester de Rothschild weighs selling 20% stake in The Economist Group for up to GBP 400m. (Capital Brief) (Bloomberg)

• Warburg Pincus and CVC now lead the $3b La Trobe Financial sale after Bain’s exit. (The Australian)

• Lendlease calls fresh bids for 25% Keyton stake; Aware Super, APG hold sway. (AFR)

• China probes Nvidia over Mellanox deal as $6.3b CoreWeave contract revealed. (Capital Brief)

• Emeco explores merger options, with BUMA a likely partner and Oaktree eyed as financier. (The Australian)

• US-China strike TikTok deal framework for US control, Trump–Xi call to seal it Friday. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• ANZ fined $240m for misconduct; union challenges job cuts, analysts view as reset under new CEO. (Capital Brief)

• Avita wins EU approval to launch RECELL GO skin therapy. (Capital Brief)

• Gold Road trims 2025 output, flags higher costs. (Capital Brief)

• Realm seeks $500m for new ASX-listed debt notes after securing $200m commitments. (AFR)

• Soul Patts and Brickworks to delist after $14b merger; new entity to trade as SOL. (Capital Brief)

• AMP settles $120m super fees class action; $75m paid by AMP, rest by insurers. (Capital Brief)

• Canva rules out ASX listing; Nasdaq IPO delayed until 2026. (AFR)

• Gold miners lead ASX losses as spot price dips; Evolution down 6.9%. (Capital Brief)

• EMVision launches $10m raise via Bells and Barrenjoey after share price jump. (AFR)

• Dexus completes $670m refinancing for ANU housing and Port Hedland Airport, cutting costs and extending terms. (Capital Brief)

• UBS warns of lower LNG prices; backs Santos over Woodside. (Capital Brief)

• Stripe rolls out quick small business loans in Australia as user base hits 1m in ANZ. (Smart Company)

• Morningstar backs Ramsay and Auckland Airport as undervalued despite cost worries. (Capital Brief)

• Paladin Energy plans $300m equity raising via Macquarie after share slump. (AFR)

• IGO upgraded to ‘neutral’ by Citi, shares rise; Pilbara remains analysts’ top lithium pick. (Capital Brief)

• Betr rejects PointsBet’s “misleading” claims on finances, says costs are temporary and NAB facility manageable. (Capital Brief)

• Google enlists Labor-aligned lobbying firm Hawker Britton to fight Australian tech reforms. (Capital Brief)

VC 

• Sydney startup Keeyu, which builds AI agents to resolve post-purchase delivery issues, has signed fashion brand Decjuba as a client. (Smart Company)

• Nvidia backs Firmus in $330m raise, valuing AI firm at $1.9b. (AFR)

People moves

• Future Fund CIO Ben Samild quits for Middle East role; Hugh Murray named interim. (Capital Brief)

• Lark Distilling has appointed Four Pillars Gin co-founder Stuart Gregor as new CEO. (AFR)

• The AFL Commission chair succession has turned chaotic, with multiple former club bosses and directors vying for the role after Richard Goyder. (AFR)

The watercooler