The corporate regulator should not be immune from the risk of special costs for actions doomed to fail, says a judge who flayed ASIC last month for bringing a case against TerraCom directors it should have known was a dud.
The High Court has rejected logistics company Qube’s special leave application asking it to clarify the scope of an adjudicator’s role in determining a contractor’s payment claims under the SOP Act.
The Full Court has rejected ASIC’s appeal of a ruling that fintech Finder did not need a financial services licence to sell its defunct cryptocurrency product, saying the product did not involve a debt for money.
A judge has slammed a Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer partner’s submission that it is not good practice to subpoena witnesses in complex litigation — saying this was “news to [her]” — and rejected client AMP’s bid to have a key witness testify from an Airbnb.
Dyldam Developments’ former boss Sam Fayad and his two sons have been ordered to pay over $50 million in a case by the liquidator of a special purpose vehicle claiming company funds were misused.
A judge has said ASIC should have known that its case against four TerraCom directors over statements made to investors had no prospects of success, calling one of its submissions “unworthy of the corporations regulator”.
A liquidator has opened his case over the alleged misuse of funds by now defunct Dyldam Developments, as the court hears of “oddities” in financial records and the spaghetti-like structure of 157 interrelated entities.
Lendlease has filed an appeal after it failed in its bid to enforce a $120 million purchase agreement for five plots of land in Campbelltown, in a high-stakes challenge set to be heard later this year.
Real estate asset manager Dexus will cover the legal costs of shareholders whose stake in Australia Pacific Airports Corporation hangs in the balance, as it reveals a $55 million book value increase.
ASIC has told a court that a PwC report into allegations of inaccurate coal pricing found that 12 “inconsistent” invoices issued by TerraCom resulted in a $1.15 million benefit to the company, contrary to the company’s claim that the audit found no wrongdoing.