Stephanie Crosbie

Saying the appeals court committed “fundamental errors” in approaching their claim of loss, the applicants in failed cases against the Commonwealth Bank have appealed to the High Court, in a case that could clarity the elusive test for damages in shareholder class actions.

Two failed shareholder class actions against Commonwealth Bank have been returned to a judge to decide if ‘no transaction’ claims can still be pursued, a move CBA argues is a way to keep alive cases that are “truly dead”.

In explaining where CBA shareholders went wrong in proving damages from the bank’s omissions over an AUSTRAC probe, the Full Federal Court has given class action plaintiffs the clearest indication yet of how they might win.