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Allens tops syndicated loans and project finance league tables in H1 2026. * Business * 25 Aug 2026 1:36 pm AEST * Share Allens has again been recognised as a leading legal adviser in syndicated loans and project finance across the Asia-Pacific region and Australia, achieving top results across key league tables and maintaining its leading position in project finance in the first half of 2026. Business Operations 'These results reflect the trust its clients place in National Tribune to advise on many of the financings and infrastructure projects shaping Australia's economy. Advising on more than $25 billion of financings in June alone highlights the breadth of its practice and the depth of expertise across its team, and National Tribune is pleased to see that work recognised in the leading league tables,' said partner and Head of Banking & Finance Tim Stewart. The firm achieved a number of standout rankings across syndicated loans and project finance league tables: Bloomberg: * First in APAC (ex Japan) for lender lead counsel by deal volume * First in APAC (ex Japan) and Australia for lender lead counsel by deal value and deal volume LSEG (formerly Refinitiv): * First in APAC (including Japan) for lender lead counsel by deal value Infralogic: * First in ANZ for project finance legal adviser by deal volume and deal count Allens advised on a number of significant deals that contributed to these rankings, including more than $25bn of financings in June. Discover more Autos & Vehicles Business Formation

Corporate Travel scandal threatens to widen as delisting threat looms. Aug 2, 2026 - 8.00pm Corporate Travel Management faces a blowout in the amount of money it will be forced to repay to overcharged customers as clients including the New Zealand government are still assessing the extent of the problem. Those reviews remain under way despite Corporate Travel, one of the country's biggest travel management businesses, having less than a month to publish its audited accounts or risk being removed from the ASX. Shares in Corporate Travel have not traded since last August, when the company requested a halt and warned it had found a minor accounting issue that would require it to restate its results. Since then, it has progressively revealed that it owed British officials about £128 million ($246 million) after overcharging for hotel and travel. In June, Corporate Travel admitted it would have to rebate between $10 million and $15 million to customers in Australia and New Zealand despite previously describing overcharging outside Europe as "not material". Corporate Travel sacked its chief executive for Europe and the UK, Michael Healy, late last year, claiming he had provided "inauthentic" information that led the company to believe that the issue had been resolved. The scandal is threatening to move far beyond Europe. Cleanaway, the ASX-listed waste management company, for instance, is due a refund after detecting that it had been overcharged, according to multiple people close to discussions who requested anonymity to speak freely. Cleanaway declined to comment. Tim Sherbourne, of New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which is responsible for administering the government travel program, said Corporate Travel still did not know how much it owed. "Corporate Travel is currently working to determine the extent of the issue in New Zealand and to correct any identified errors, including reimbursing affected government agencies," he said. "New Zealand Government Procurement is actively assessing the implications for agencies participating in the travel management services contract that use Corporate Travel." A Corporate Travel spokesman declined to comment on specific clients, but said it was "committed to fixing issues where they have occurred". People close to the company who requested anonymity as they were not permitted to comment publicly, however, said Corporate Travel believed the amount owed in Australia and New Zealand would still come in at less than $15 million unless overcharging was detected in a bigger account. When Corporate Travel first disclosed that it had overcharged the British government, Australia's Finance Department launched its own review of its account, the single largest on the company's books. That process was due to be finalised at the end of July, with the findings made public this month. Worth nearly $1 billion and representing 20 per cent of Corporate Travel's revenue, the contract has another 12 months to run with the Australian government holding an option to extend for a further four years. Corporate Travel's biggest rival, Flight Centre, won the contract to provide ministerial travel this year and will begin offering the services in January. It is expected to bid for the bigger government contract if a tender process opens up. Audit delay. Under Australian sharemarket rules, Corporate Travel must provide audited accounts by the end of August or face delisting. The company had previously told investors that accounts would be filed in a matter of weeks, before pushing that date back to February, then June and now August. In late June, the company said preparations of accounts covering the 2025 financial year and the first half of the 2026 financial year were "substantially advanced but not complete" and expected to lodge them this month. "The additional time required reflects the interdependent nature of the UK customer remediation, financing arrangements, together with the remaining audit and review procedures," it said, adding that it also depended on restatements in Australia and New Zealand and "further assessments" of overcharging on customer accounts in the UK. The Australian Financial Review reported in May that Corporate Travel had brought in Allens and EY as its legal and accounting liquidation advisers after entering safe harbour, meaning it is financially distressed but not insolvent. The repayments to customers who have been overcharged will strain the company's finances and require support from lenders. Corporate Travel was once capitalised at more than $3 billion, and had been owned by several of Australia's most prominent fund managers. Last month, Bennelong Australian Equity Partners told clients it had written down the carrying value on its Corporate Travel positions to zero because of the high level of uncertainty over its outlook and valuation. When trade halted, Corporate Travel made up more than 10 per cent of its concentrated Australian equities fund, and 7.5 per cent of its Australian equities fund. ECP Asset Management has written down its position several times, while Forager Funds Management marked down its investment by 80 per cent from Corporate Travel's last traded price of $16.07. Ayesha de Kretser is a senior reporter with The Australian Financial Review covering the aviation and tourism sectors. She has previously reported on banking, mining and commodity markets. Connect with Ayesha on Twitter. Email Ayesha at [email protected] Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at [email protected] Edmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom. Email Edmund at [email protected]