A judge has signed off on a $18.5 million settlement in a six-year-old shareholder class action against Deloitte over its audits of collapsed construction group Hastie, saying the amount might be “disappointing” to group members but reflected the risks of going to trial.
A judge has questioned an argument by Optus that a report by Deloitte into a major data breach was protected by privilege, saying a press release by the teleco’s boss belied the claim that the provision of legal advice was the report’s chief purpose.
Noumi has admitted in a case by ASIC to breaching its continuous disclosure obligations by overstating the value of its inventory and failing to give a true and fair view of the company’s financial position.
A class action against Optus over a cyberattack that left the data of up to 10 million customers exposed is seeking access to an independent report prepared by Deloitte into the causes of the hack.
A judge has found that a case brought by the liquidators of investment firm Linchpin Capital against auditors Grant Thornton and Moore Stephens for signing off on the compliance plan for a registered fund that allegedly misused investor money has legs.
A judge overseeing a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action against PTTEP Australia on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers has balked at the “very large” costs sought by Maurice Blackburn for administering the deal, expressing concerns that class action costs are “getting out of control”.
A judge has questioned an “unusual” bid by Noumi to shield over 3,000 documents, their titles and the identities of those who sent them to PricewaterhouseCoopers during a 2020 investigation into the food company’s financial position.
The applicants in a shareholder class action against the former Freedom Foods have failed in a bid to cross-examine Noumi’s inhouse counsel on affidavits swearing to the legal professional privilege of 3,000 documents, including material containing advice from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
A class action over the collapse of Walton Construction has argued the National Australia Bank cannot shield communications with Norton Rose Fulbright and Deloitte because they were made to further a fraud or otherwise had an illegal or improper purpose.
Ashurst has bolstered its Sydney tax practice with the addition of two senior taxation lawyers from Deloitte.