SOLVING THE QUESTIONS (PROBLEMS)

Solving the Questions (Problems)



Solving the Questions (Problems)

Q1. Contracts are vital in today's economy. The principal reason for enforcing agreements is economic necessity, if they are not enforceable trade as we know it would be virtually impossible. Do you agree?

The power imbalance in the negotiations was clear — the Australian economy is the size of only 4% of the US economy. Nevertheless, the Australian government went into negotiations with little more than a heartfelt commitment to free trade and neoliberalism, a false apprehension that the US would open up its agriculture markets and a misguided belief that the US was a “mate” who would look after it in the negotiations.

The Australian government, with the help of business lobbyists and the Rupert Murdoch media, furiously spun the worth of the agreement. Prime Minister John Howard described AUSFTA as “a coming together of the planets … which won't again happen in a generation or more”. For Parliamentary Secretary to the Trade Minister De-Anne Kelly, AUSFTA was the “world cup of trade”.

Q2 Wendy sees a dress for sale in the window of her favorite shop. It is marked $99.95. Upon entering the store, she is delighted to find the exact same dress on a sale rack for $39.95. She quickly takes the dress to the counter and hands over $50.00 to the shop assistant. The shop assistant refuses to sell Wendy the dress. Advise Wendy.

It is likely that the various credit derivatives presently transacted on-line would, if transacted in Australia, constitute "futures contracts" under the Australian Corporations Law. Accordingly, it will therefore be necessary for the operator of an on-line platform to ensure that the credit derivatives transacted via that platform are, in fact, being transacted on an "exempt futures market" (in order to avoid the civil and criminal sanctions imposed for breaches of the futures licensing provisions of the Corporations Law).

The Financial Services Reform Bill introduces a new form of license, the "Australian market license". A party that operates a "financial market" in Australia must hold this license. A financial market includes facilities through which offers to acquire or dispose of "financial products" are regularly made. It is likely that credit derivatives would fall within the definition of "financial products" set out in the Bill. However, it remains unclear whether or not an on-line platform for transacting credit derivatives constitutes a "facility".

Q3. Barry promised his youngest child, Sam, that if she did not smoke cigarettes or use illegal drugs before she was 25 years of age, Barry would buy her acre to the value of $8,000.00. Sam is now 25 years of age and has never smoked or used illegal drugs, but her father now refuses to buy her the car. His argument is that his daughter is how healthier than she otherwise would have been and that is payment enough? Advise Sam.

Because of the strong association between smoking and lung cancer in Australia, pressing an asbestos lawsuit for a person who smokes can present a bit ...