The CDPP’s decision to drop all criminal cartel charges against two banks and four individuals in a “test case” over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement shows the ACCC “lacks expertise and objectivity” on the financial markets and should leave them to ASIC to regulate, according to one of the former accused.
A fine imposed against the Commonwealth Bank for false and misleading representations to customers should reflect offences that were “well below the midpoint” of seriousness, counsel for the bank has told a judge overseeing the first criminal case of its kind.
Five enforcement officers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be cross-examined by lawyers for banks facing price fixing charges over their conduct following ANZ’s $2.5 billion capital raising six years ago.
A judge overseeing a cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement has granted ANZ’s bid for unredacted documents which the bank says will support its claims that the case should be permanently stayed because of improper dealings between whistleblower JPMorgan, ASIC and the ACCC.
A former Deutsche Bank executive named in a criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement says the charges against him are defective and should be quashed.
Car repair giant AMA Group has so far spent $737,000 in professional fees investigating whistleblower claims and taking former boss Andrew Hopkins to court for allegedly defrauding the company.
The banks and high-ranking executives targeted in pared-down criminal cartel proceedings over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement are taking new steps to shut down the long-running case, including further probes into the ACCC’s conduct during its investigation into the alleged cartel.
AMA Group has told a court it will enter early mediation in its lawsuit against former CEO Andrew Hopkins that alleges he owes $2.4 million in unauthorised expenses and repayments on an outstanding loan.
JPMorgan is fighting to keep details of failed settlement talks with ASIC under wraps in criminal cartel proceedings over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement, as ANZ seeks to uncover whether the corporate regulator made a deal with the investment bank ahead of the cartel case being filed.
Former BlueScope general manager of sales and marketing Jason Ellis has been sentenced to a wholly suspended prison term of eight months after pleading guilty to obstructing a price fixing investigation.