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  • Malcolm Brennan

    Special Counsel
    Canberra
    T: +61 2 6217 6054
    M: +61 417 290 705
 

 Professional Biography

 

  • Malcolm is a special counsel in our Canberra office where he specialises in advising clients on Australia's foreign investment regime.  He is an expert in the application of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Australia's Foreign Investment Policy and the impact these have on proposed investments into Australia.

    He has advised on the application of Australia's foreign investment policy in relation to many major transactions and developments. As a result of his wide experience he has a unique understanding of the issues and sensitivities surrounding foreign investment.

    Through his work, Malcolm deals daily with officers of the Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division of the Federal Treasury in respect to all matters that require foreign investment notification.
 

 Experience

 
  • 1985: Bachelor of Economics, Australian National University
  • 1987: Bachelor of Laws, Australian National University
  • 1987 - 1988: Article Clerk, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Canberra
  • 1988 - 1991: Solicitor, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Canberra
  • 1991 - 2007: Senior Associate, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Canberra
  • 2007 - 2012: Special Counsel, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Canberra
  • 2012 - present: Special Counsel, King & Wood Mallesons
 

 Recent Matters

 
  • Hunan Valin Malcolm assisted with the investment by Hunan Valin, a Chinese SOE, into Fortescue at a time when Chinese investment was closely scrutinised by the Australian Government.
  • Temasek Malcolm is regularly consulted by Temasek to assist with its Australian foreign investment issues.
  • Airline Partners Malcolm provided foreign investment, Airports Act and aviation legislation advice to the Airline Partners' consortium's proposed Qantas takeover
  • Xstrata PLC As part of his ongoing work for this multinational client, Malcolm regularly advises on the foreign investment regime and its application to Australian investment including proposed takeovers.
  • Financial Institutions Malcolm has a number of financial services clients including Deutsche Bank, National Australia Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as Chinese banks including China Development Bank and Bank of China where he provides foreign investment advice on structured finance transactions
  • Macquarie Bank For this client, Malcolm advises in relation to foreign investors into Macquarie infrastructure projects
  • Property developers Malcolm has a broad range of property development clients (such as Hawaiian Group, Australand and Yanchep Sun City) who require advise in respect to the operation of the foreign investment regime to their various acquisition and development projects in Australia
  • Infrastructure Malcolm regularly advises on public private partnerships with State Governments in respect to the application of Australia's foreign investment requirements to infrastructure developments
  • Tourism sector Interest in developing and the acquisition of infrastructure (such as hotel and resorts) has grown considerably over recent years. Malcolm has worked closely with foreign investors seeking returns from this sector in Australia which has involved him assisting with the development of submissions to Government on policy
  • Resource clients Malcolm acts for a number of clients with interests in the growing Australian resource sector particularly with a focus on coal, gold and nickel mine developments
  • Foreign governments and their agencies Malcolm's practice includes advising foreign governments and their agencies, including sovereign wealth fund investment into Australia. He regularly advises clients on the foreign investment policy when the legislation does not apply. This includes addressing the foreign government investment guidelines and their application to investment proposals.
 

 Professional Memberships

 
  • Member - Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory
  • Member - Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia
  • Chairman - Canberra Branch of the Insolvency & Reconstruction Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia