New laws aimed at regulating litigation funders are due to commence on Saturday, but Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is keeping a lid on four emails exchanged with the watchdog in the days leading up to the decision to bring in the sweeping changes.
The Murray Goulburn class action has been cited repeatedly in the current parliamentary inquiry into class actions and litigation funding. For some, the return generated by Omni Bridgeway, which funded the action, is Exhibit A in the case that litigation funders make too much money. To others – including the one person in the best position to judge – it is nothing of the sort, says Clive Bowman of Omni Bridgeway.
The commission rates of litigation funders have come under attack on the first day of a parliamentary inquiry into class actions, with the CEO of funder Omni Bridgeway in the firing line over a $10.5 million cut of a recent $42 million settlement in a class action against milk supplier Murray Goulburn.