Charles Parkinson

Former directors of steelmaker Arrium have rejected shareholder class action claims that the company's collapse was foreseeable, calling claims they had their heads in the sand “arrant nonsense”. 

The fallacy that shareholders must precisely prove the amount of loss caused by a listed company's breaches has finally been exposed by the Full Federal Court, a trial judge has been told in a class action over the collapse of steel maker Arrium.

KPMG failed to bring the necessary scepticism to the task of auditing failing steel manufacturer Arrium, instead leaving contradictory evidence unresolved and giving the company a clean bill of health, a shareholder class action has told the court.

A shareholder class action against KPMG and ex-Arrium directors says the company's accounts were infected by "chronic and systemic overoptimism", with the former operator of Whyalla Steelworks portraying as viable a business that was impaired up to $2.8 billion.

As proof of its popularity as a class action jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Victoria will hear opening submissions in three class action trials on Monday, an unprecedented number in a single day for the court.

Noting the aging group members, a judge has pushed the parties in two class actions against aged care facilities over COVID-19 outbreaks to shoot for a 2027 or early-2028 trial date.

A shareholder class action against Arrium directors and auditor KPMG over the $4 billion collapse of the steel manufacturer is seeking to amend its case, saying a “misreading” of the original pleading is no basis to refuse the application.

A collapsed developer and its builder have failed again in their dispute against a financier over the Pentridge Village development in Melbourne, with an appeals court taking a critical view of years of delays.

The board administering the ESSSuper fund, which is facing a class action alleging it miscalculated the entitlements of transport shift workers in Victoria, has denied any liability, saying it was not involved in determining how entitlements were calculated.

After more than a year on ice, two class actions against age care facilities over COVID-19 outbreaks are set to resume late this year, following a month-long criminal trial that kicks off next week.