A judge weighing a dispute between ASIC and the Commonwealth Bank over whether notice of a $7 million penalty should be sent out through the bank’s Commbank app has questioned the usefulness of adverse publicity notices and whether they should be ditched for higher pecuniary penalties in the future.
The lead applicant in a class action against CBA does not have the right to view fund management documents relevant to the case despite representing group members who share joint privilege with the bank over material, a judge has said, acknowledging the decision could create difficulties in class action proceedings.
The lead applicant in a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against superannuation provider Colonial First State wants the Full Court to determine whether group members still have valid claims, after a judgment from the Victoria Supreme Court shut down a similar class action last year.
The lead applicants in a class action against two CBA units over allegedly excessive insurance premiums have been ordered to amend their pleadings to expand the group definition and add more detail to their claims.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is resisting a novel proposal by ASIC to use its CommBank app to notify 6.3 million customers of a $7 million fine against it for overcharging interest, saying the move would pose a “significant risk” to the public.
A judge has slugged the Commonwealth Bank of Australia with a $7 million fine in proceedings brought by ASIC for excessive interest charged to thousands of overdraft customers, but noted the penalty amounted to profits from just six hours of operation for the Big Four bank.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has taken the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to court for slapping nearly 1 million customers with unauthorised monthly access fees totaling $55 million over a nine-year period.
Two Commonwealth Bank of Australia subsidiaries have denied that they owed fiduciary duties to group members in a class action over allegedly excessive insurance premiums pushed onto customers because of commissions and other benefits to financial advisors.
A judge has questioned why ASIC is still pursuing its case CBA unit Colonial First State over statements made to 12,000 fund managers during the transition to MySuper accounts, after the bank admitted it misled members in 61 of the 80 phone calls at the heart of the case.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has told a judge there’s no chance it will admit to ASIC’s allegations that it accepted conflicted remuneration through the sale of its Essential Super product, likening the matter to ASIC’s failed ‘Wagyu and shiraz’ case against Westpac.