IN BRIEF

Rick Holliday-Smith has been elected chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). He is the former head of the Sydney Futures Exchange, is chairman of Cochlear and a director of Servcorp, and replaces David Gonski on the ASX board.

David Gonski resigned as an ASX director to take up the chairmanship of the Future Fund board of guardians, prompting the election of Rick Holliday-Smith as ASX chairman.

Reports say Westfield Group is in talks to sell majority stakes in seven US shopping centres for about US$1 billion to Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group LLC. Five of those malls are among 17 centres Westfield has been trying to dispose of since last year, and Westfield declined to comment.

The reported buyer is Starwood Capital Group LLC, linked to investor Barry Sternlicht, which was said to be negotiating to buy majority stakes in seven Westfield US shopping centres.

The Tax Office settled a $22 million tax case against Griffith potato farmer Paul Rennie. The case followed probes by Operation Wickenby into Mr Rennie and his associated companies.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has toughened disclosure rules for unlisted property schemes because it was concerned retail investors were not receiving consistent information that could be compared between products.

Tigers Realm Coal has put its Colombian assets up for sale as it seeks to sharpen focus on its flagship project in Russia. A strategic review underway is expected to recommend reducing the company’s financial exposure to the Landazuri coking coal project in Colombia.

Everyday investors should watch for official announcements and disclosure documents about leadership changes at ASX, any confirmed Westfield asset sales, ASIC’s updated disclosure guidance for unlisted property schemes, outcomes of Tigers Realm Coal’s strategic review, and formal details of tax settlements—these items affect corporate governance, asset ownership and the information available to retail investors.